Four Brothers: Gunner: The Beginning
by Breiscrazy
Summary: [Four Brothers]This is the story before, during, and after the events that occurred in Four Brothers told by the eyes of their dog Gunner. This is my first story so I am learning. This is rated M mostly for language and some violence. Enjoy! COMPLETED!
1. Gunner: The Beginning

_This is the story before, during, and after the events that occurred in Four Brothers told by the eyes of their dog Gunner. This is my first story so I'm learning. This is rated M mostly for language and some violence. I hope you enjoy it._

This first part occurs when the brothers are all still living with their mother. Everyone is in high school. Jerry is in his final year and Bobby's been held back so he still goes to school too.

I don't own any of the characters except Gunner.

**Gunner-The Beginning**

"I just don't understand", thought the dog as she sat in the back seat of the van licking her bleeding paw. "What did I do wrong?" She tried to be good. She really did. _Beep! Beep!_ A car horn blared at the dog's car as the drunk driver in the front ran the stop sign. The dog hated the smell of alcohol. Whenever she smelt it, she knew she had done something wrong. She feared the man with the dark black beard and glazed over eyes when he began to drink. After a few beers he would seek her out and beat her. The dog couldn't understand that the man was just angry and depressed, venting his frustration on the world. In her eyes, she was wrong, she had done something bad, and she deserved it. Her head still hurt and she was a bit dizzy from the last blow.

All at once the car stopped. The man stumbled out of the front seat and went to open up the back door. "Now's my chance!" thought the dog. I'll apologize and make things right. As soon as the door opened, she licked the man's face in an apologetic kiss, hoping that whatever she had done would be forgotten. The man just pulled her from the van, closed the door, got in the front seat and began to drive away. The dog was frozen in confusion and fear. How would she get home? Where was she? Why did he just leave her? "I must have done it this time!" the dog moaned in horror. He had never abandoned her before. She began desperately chasing the van. Chasing the life of pain. The only life she knew and expected. He fed her, kept her in a warm house, what more could she ask for. Now she would be alone, out on the cold streets. She lost sight of the van, but continued on anyway. Turning down different streets, running around the maze-like roads of Detroit. She forgot about her throbbing head, her paw that stung with the force of a thousand needles. She wasn't even thinking at this point, now she was running blindly, chasing after only the hope that the man would come back to her.

_Thump! _The dog's feet were suddenly no longer beneath her. She flew through the air, landing on her side in a heap of snow on the sidewalk. The car that hit the dog showed no concern and continued on its way. The dog tried to get up, but her right front leg just couldn't hold her, and the pain was finally too much to bear. She never felt more alone. Maybe this was how it was supposed to be. Maybe she would finally be able to find peace. As the dog began to close her eyes she heard a voice. "MOM! COME QUICK!" A boy, probably in his last year of high school, came running over to the dog's side. "Jerry stop!" yelled a woman, the boy's mother, "That dog's hurt. There's no telling what it will do to you!" The dog looked up into the black boys eyes. He looked stressed and very upset. She attempted to lick his hand to apologize for what she'd done wrong. She must have done something wrong, that was one of the same looks the man would get before he hit her. Another boy, white and older than the one beside her, came rushing out of the house to see what his brother was yelling about. Seeing the dog he calmly made his way over and assessed the situation. "Must've gotten hit by a car. The bastards didn't even stop." The boy's eyes were hard and angry. "Bobby Mercer! What did I tell you about your language?" The mother was trying to apprehend the boy, but she seemed more concerned about Jerry who now had both hands wrapped around the injured dog in a bear hug. The dog was confused by this. She had never been embraced before, but didn't try to escape it. It felt comforting. "We have to take her to the vet!" pleaded a now teary-eyed Jerry. Evelyn Mercer, their mother, who was involved in foster care and always helped whatever child needed it, was not about to turn away from an animal that also needed help. "Bobby, go get Angel and the blanket we keep on the couch. If we can get her onto the blanket, then we can carry her into the car."

Bobby disappeared inside the house and emerged with a blanket, his younger brother Angel, who was black and his youngest brother Jack who was white. Angel fearlessly approached the new dog, but Jack, more timid and unsure of what the dog would do to him, went to his mother. Bobby and Angel tried to get the dog onto the blanket, but she kept squirming in pain. "Jack!" called Bobby, "come over here and give us a hand will ya?" Jack went over to his brother's but stood there clueless, wondering what they expected from him. Jerry realized that he was stronger than his younger brother and left Jack to comfort the dog while he helped his brothers move her onto the blanket. Finally, the three oldest brothers were able to get the dog onto the blanket and Bobby and Angel carried the dog to the car. Jerry sat in the middle, with the dog lying on top of him, while Angel and Jack sat on either side petting the dog to try and offer it some comfort and relief from the pain. Evelyn and Bobby got into the front and the mother drove the four worried boys and the injured dog to the hospital.

"What do you mean you can't do anything?" growled a furious Bobby as he tried to be heard over Jerry's sobs. The vet had just told them he couldn't help the dog. "I'm sorry" the vet said, "but without an owner to accept the cost of the surgery, the dog will have to be put down." "She can't die!" Jerry sobbed. Now Jack's eyes started to fill with tears as he realized the full meaning of what was going on. As his tears started to fall as well, it only enraged Bobby more. Angel quickly grabbed Bobby before he could permanently damage the vet's jaw and pulled him back. "So your just gonna do nothing! Sounds like everyone else on this fucking planet! Nobody cares do they!" Bobby broke free of Angel and went to swing a punch directly into the vet's nose. Luckily, his mother stepped in just in time. "Now I don't see why you can't just this once help that poor dog and bend the rules", she said calmly. "It's not that simple" said the vet with a slight anger to his voice at almost being assaulted, "it's against our policy. If I help one, I have to help them all. Also, there's a very good chance she isn't even adoptable. A lot of those wounds are old. It looks like she's been hit. Those kinds of dogs can be aggressive. Not suitable for a home. She'd have to be put down anyway."

Hearing this, Jack began to cry even harder. "Mom!" he choked out, he knew too well what it was like to be hit. He understood her pain and the fear he had seen in her eyes. He understood that she was afraid and alone. "We can't ju- - just leave he- - her. We- -We…" he trailed off unable to finish his sentence through his tears. "Calm down Jackie", Evelyn said, looking her son in the eyes. "We're not going to leave her. I didn't give up on you; I won't give up on her." With seriousness to her eyes, she turned to the vet. "Do the surgery." The vet was tired of this conversation. "I already told you..." he started, but then Evelyn cut him off "I don't care how much it costs. I'll pay for it." "How we gonna do that ma?" asked Bobby, "We've already cut back on so much. Jackie can't even afford a haircut!" Bobby couldn't help it. His brother's hair was always a mess. The joke lightened the mood and Jerry was able to stop crying. Evelyn gave Bobby a look and replied "we'll manage. We always have." She than sat down in the waiting room with her sons to wait for the surgery to be completed. It would be a long night!

_I'm sorry if it seems kind of slow right now. I'm trying to set up a background story and build the relationships between people and dog. I'll try to add more humour and more action._


	2. Home

**Home**

The dog looked up from the bed she was sitting in. It was amazingly soft and comfy, she thought. She had just been brought to the Mercer's from the vets, not an enjoyable experience. Though she had fallen asleep rather easily—too easily in her opinion, she had awoken within a cage and freaked out, almost re-breaking her leg. It turns out she had needed surgery to reset it. Her bed was in the kitchen so that she could watch the family as they prepared for dinner. The youngest boy seemed to be the most help. He followed his mother's instructions setting the table and handing her ingredients. She kind of liked the way his hair flopped around in his eyes; it reminded her of the puppy that used to live next door. This made her miss her house. Would she even be fed here? Her mind was taken back to the present when a loud crash grabbed her attention. Bobby and Angel had decided setting the table would be faster by throwing the plates to each other, which obviously had not been the brightest idea. "Nice one genius!" Jerry jabbed as he quickly ducked at the plate Bobby now threw at his head. _Crash_. There goes another plate, the dog thought. She wondered how many sets of dishes they probably bought a week. Evelyn made Bobby and Angel clean up the mess and promise to wash the dishes after dinner. On hearing this Jerry replied with a teasing voice "Yeah, and don't forget to throw them back into the cupboard while your at it!" "Don't give them any ideas." Jack put in. Jack and Jerry expertly dodged the dustpan and broom thrown at their heads. "How could you possibly miss that kid's hair!" Angel asked Bobby, angry that they hadn't hit the two making fun of them. "That's enough!" Evelyn said finally. "Angel and Bobby finish cleaning. Jerry and Jack, unless you want to join those two washing dishes after dinner, I suggest you find something for yourselves to do!"

Jerry decided to go check on the dog that sat quietly in the corner, looking unsure on how to react to all the commotion. "Hi there!" Jerry said lowering his hand to pet the dog on her head. "Here it comes!" thought the dog. I'm in for it now. She closed her eyes and ducked her head, waiting for the hit she was sure was coming. But nothing happened. She looked up to see a hurt and confused expression in Jerry's eyes. "What's wrong with her?" he asked, looking to his brother Jack for some help. Jack examined the dog's expression and replied "she thinks you're going to hit her". "I'd never do that!" jerry exclaimed. "She doesn't know that." Jack said as he lowered himself to the same level as the dog. He reached out to the dog, not touching her, just allowing her to sniff his hand. Just like his mother would bend down to him and assure him everything was alright. Jack slowly petted the dog, making sure she knew nothing would hurt her. His slow movements put the dog at ease and she began to close her eyes and enjoy the affection and attention.

Dinner was crazy and the dog just decided to stay out of it. Angel had given her food right before they ate dinner and now she was left to look upon the dinner table, astonished that anything maybe even made it into the boys' mouths. They were more concerned with chucking it at each other. The walls were covered, as well as the boys. Jack's hair was filled with mashed potatoes and Bobby made sure he threw every hard piece of food he could at Jerry for his smart comments before. Needless to say, they spent over an hour cleaning up the room. Maybe it shouldn't have taken that long, but the soap bubbles were a tempting sight and the boys couldn't resist throwing those at each other as well. Angel looked at the dog and decided she felt left out, so he covered her in bubbles too.

"You've turned that dog into a poodle you idiot!" yelled Bobby as he looked upon Angel's work. "I dub thee Froo Froo!" Jerry laughed, knighting the dog with his mop. "That's not a good name!" Jack said, trying to save the dog from any embarrassing nicknames like the ones he had encountered. "What do you propose than you little fairy?" Bobby asked. Like that one, Jack thought to himself. "Something tough!" Angel said. "Ya!" Jerry agreed, "so that no one will dare mess with her!" "Killer!" Bobby said. "Maybe one notch below horrible and painful death" Jack replied to the name. "Okay, what do you use to look tough?" Jerry asked. "Well…" Angel thought. "A gun!" Bobby exclaimed. "If you have one of those, no one will mess with ya!" Angel agreed. "You can't call a dog gun, that's just stupid!" Jeremiah sighed. "What about Gunner?" Jack asked. Everyone stood around looking thoughtful. "That's not bad Tinkerbell!" Bobby said. "Yeah Cracker Jack, you've finally had a good idea!" Jerry added. "I thought actually was able to emerge out of all that hair!" Angel chimed in. Jack lowered his head, unsure whether to feel like he was being praised or laughed at. "Are you kids finished yet?" I voice called from upstairs. "Almost!" they all lied and quickly began to clean up the rest of the suds. Gunner just looked around, completely blown away that they had given her a name. People had names. Dogs didn't. That's just how it worked. Or so she though. She wasn't sure she even deserved the dignity of it. Looking at a stray sud that was falling down her face, she smiled to herself, this was kind of fun. She attempted to get up and was able to hobble on her three good legs to help the boys finish their job.

That night, Gunner was awoken from her bed by a soft cry coming from the family room. She hobbled into the room to see the youngest boy folded into a ball on the couch crying. She had no idea what to do. Had she caused this? She felt horrible and hobbled over to the boy, licking what she could see of his buried face. He looked up surprised and wrapped his arms around the dog's neck. Why did they keep doing this? She wondered. It's not like I deserve it. She than realized the fear in the boys eyes and allowed herself to be held. When he was finally able to speak, he looked into the dog's eyes and told her all about a horrible nightmare he had experienced and how it reminded him of his old home. He than released his grip on her neck and feeling better, he began to tip-toe back up the stairs. Feeling that she should watch over the boy to make sure he didn't have any more of these "nightmares" she followed him, rather difficulty, up the stairs. Jack seemed surprised when she stumbled into his room, and told the dog that if she felt scared she could sleep on his bed. He helped her up and to thank him, she licked some left-over mashed potatoes out of his hair. This was what she'd been missing. This was that hole she always knew was there and was craving to fill. She once asked herself what more could she need, she had food and a roof over her head. Now she understood. She also needed love and she believed this place could give it to her. She was no longer living in a house. She was living in a **home.** She watched over Jack until he fell asleep and then finally closed her eyes too.


	3. My Family

**My Family**

Gunner awoke that morning to Jack strumming on a weird wooden instrument. A calming tune was being emitted from each of his finger strokes. She instantly adored this weird musical thing he affectionately called a guitar. Bobby on the other hand was quick to point out that he did not. He grabbed it and held it above his head just out of Jack's reach. Gunner was quick to realize that Bobby was the leader of the boys, but still didn't appreciate this teasing. She barked in annoyance. Bobby looked astonished. "Yeah Bobby! Stop!" Jerry teased. "I'm with Gunner." Angel said. Bobby reluctantly handed Jack the guitar who smiled at Gunner. "One day Jack will be taller than you and you won't be able to tease him any more!" Jerry said. "I'll always be able to beat up that little fairy!" Bobby snapped, but he knew Jerry was right, Jack would be tall. He was almost as tall as Bobby all ready. In a few months, there would be no way to stop his guitar playing. "Breakfast!" Evelyn called from the kitchen. All the boys raced down the stairs, Angel falling down half of them, except for Jack, who waited for Gunner to carefully hobble her way down the stairs.

A week later, Gunner was already starting to use her leg more, even though the brothers' desperately tried everything to keep her resting. Eventually they gave up and tried to play games with her. She didn't understand fetch or tug-o-war. She never chased the ball or tried to take things from the boys, she didn't understand it was a game. Eventually though, she realized that if she picked up the ball the boys became thrilled and if she gave it back to them they would throw it for her to get again. She became really good at this game and began racing against them all to get the ball. Tug-o-war was even more difficult for her though. Why would they want her to take something from them? "Whatever makes them happy I guess", she thought and eventually she was able to get that rope off of anyone, except Bobby. He never let her win. Sometimes it seemed like he didn't really care about the dog. He wouldn't show it in front of anyone anyway, but he was the only one who snuck food under the table for Gunner to eat. "We gotta get some muscle on ya" he'd tell her with one of his smirks.

That morning, Gunner could tell something was up. The boys were quiet at breakfast. They were only quiet when they were up to something. Gunner had realized this the night they hadn't said a word to her. They'd gone out and been out until two in the morning. Their mother sat in the family room worried sick, glad to have Gunner for company. When they walked into the house, all of them were badly bruised and bleeding from at least one injury or another. They had gotten into a fight with a bunch of people who though it would be fun to corner Jack, while the other three boys were shoplifting (they didn't mention this to their mother), and mug him. The only reason Jack was injured was because the thugs had landed a few punches before his brother's had arrived, though his knuckles did look red (Gunner hoped he had landed a punch back). His brothers hadn't been happy at all and nearly beat the guys to death, not without first getting pretty beat up themselves though. Jerry's nose was bleeding; Angel was holding his stomach and Bobby had a back eye. Jack looked the best with only a split lip. Evelyn spent most of the night babying them and fixing them up, much to Bobby's complaining and dislike. Gunner attempted to help too, though she only managing to get tangled in the bandages. It did seem to put a smile on everyone's face.

Anyway, they had that same air about them. This time, Gunner was going to make sure they stayed safe. It was her job, which she had decided after seeing their pain the last time they had been like this. They all acted like they were going to school, but Gunner felt something different was going to take place, especially when Bobby left his knapsack in the hallway. He rarely took it anyway, but this just gave her a reason to leave the house. She grabbed the bag in her mouth and exited the doggy door that had just recently been put in by the boys. It was more like an octagon than a square doggy door, but hey, they had tried. She left the house and quickly spotted the boys heading around the corner, opposite direction of the school. She quickly tried to catch up to them, but the bag was slowing her down. She finally caught up with them in an alleyway, only to realize that they were in big trouble.

Some guys emerged from behind a dumpster. "Bobby Mercer!" said one of the thugs, "I can't believe you've honoured us with punctuality!" The boy was being sarcastic, Gunner realized. "Just get to the point!" bobby said impatiently. Gunner noticed Jerry was looking very concerned. "I think you know what you're here for", another of the thugs replied. "Why don't you refresh our memories" Angel retorted. "You're brother over there" the first thug said nodding in Jerry's direction, "owes us a bit of money you see. He just couldn't afford that pretty little thing he wanted to get your dear mommy!" Bobby looked unfazed by all of this. He clearly had been filled in by Jeremiah earlier and was just trying to buy some time to think of a plan of action. "That was a pretty necklace", the second boy said "but maybe we'll have to go and snatch it back off of you're pretty mama's neck!" "He shouldn't have said that!" thought Gunner. Nobody messes with family. The last comment made Bobby lose it and he swung a punch at the guy who though he could mess with his mother. That was it, it was an all-out brawl.

"Get outta here Jack!" Bobby yelled before receiving a hit to the face. Jack, unsure whether to leave his brothers and really not wanting too, hesitated, which gave one of the thugs enough time to block Jack's exit. Gunner watched as Jack tried to defend himself, landing a punch, but getting taken down pretty quickly. Gunner was frozen. Not sure how to react. Then she remembered. She had to protect them. They took care of her and now it was her turn to repay them. Nobody messed with family, "especially **my family!**" thought Gunner. She dropped the knapsack she'd been carrying and lunged at the boy on top of Jack. She put all the force of her body into the leap, knocking the boy a couple of feet. Once he was on the ground, Gunner let out a deep growl, grabbed the guy by the collar of his shirt and dragged him out of the alley way. He screamed for his comrades, not out of pain, but out of fear. They looked up and the ones not being currently beaten to a pulp by the brothers attempted to rush to his side. One booted her right in the ribs. She jumped back for a moment remembering the fear linked with pain, but suddenly remembered the boys and ferociously barked and growled defending herself and the ones she loved. The boy who had been dragged by the dog took off running, and the ones who had come to help him, did the same. Gunner returned to drag another boy off of Jeremiah, while Bobby and Angel finished off the rest. All but one of the thugs was allowed to escape. Bobby took this boy aside, looked him in the eyes and the thug understood-Jerry owed no money, if they tried to collect it again they were dead. With that, the boy took off.

In the aftermath, the boys finally realized what Gunner had done for them. She was rewarded with a billion pats and sayings like "way to go girl" and "you kicked ass!" Gunner was very proud of herself and made sure to look each boy over to check their injuries. Jack laughed as Gunner stuck her nose in the back of his neck, checking under his messy hair to see if it was hiding any injuries. "I'm fine!" jack said, playfully pushing the dog away. Gunner was relieved. They were a little bruised but they were okay. "I told you we shoulda brought the guns!" Bobby said to Jerry, sounding a little annoyed. "Gun, Gunner, it's all the same in the end" Jerry replied, attempting to get out of trouble with his brothers. Bobby was not amused and had his brother in a headlock the whole way to school, picking up the school bag Gunner had brought him as he went. Gunner waited in the parking lot for school to finish. The boys had tried to sneak her inside, but a pile of coats with four paws and a tail sticking out of it was kind of obvious.


	4. Christmas

_Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't been writing a lot of comments at the top of my stories, I've been kind of rushed loading everything. I've just realized I had my anonymous review blocker on, so I'm sorry if anyone tried to review and couldn't. I think I've fixed it now. Thanks to_ _sparkl0413for reviewing. In answer to her question, Gunner is a German Shepard (sorry if it's spelt wrong). I'm sorry I forgot to mention that and thanks for letting me know. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and thanks to everyone who's reading my story._

**Christmas**

Gunner was constantly confused by things that occurred in the Mercer house. Love, play, danger, dinner, but right now, Gunner was most confused about the large tree sitting in the family room. The boys were spending the day bringing down boxes from upstairs. Evelyn spent her time unpacking the boxes and hanging up the weird decorations that resided in them. Bobby and Angel were busy hanging up lights outside the house. It made Gunner nervous that they were on the roof, but Evelyn seemed fine with it. Jack and Jerry were laying out decorations on the couch which were supposed to go onto the tree. "Why would you dress up a tree?" questioned Gunner. But nothing really made sense right now, so she just went with the flow.

Then she caught something out of the corner of her eye. A movement from within the tree. What could it be? The tree had been brought in from outdoors, perhaps a monster had been living in it! She had to protect her family. She began braking madly at the tree, making Jack, Jerry and Evelyn come rushing into the room, just as Gunner knocked the tree over. They were about to start yelling at her, when they spotted a squirrel leaping out of the now mangled mess of a tree. Gunner chased that squirrel for a good ten minutes around the house before Evelyn was able to open the front door for the squirrel to escape. By now, Jack had informed Angel and Bobby who were killing themselves with laughter as they watched the terrified Gunner defending her family from a monster. When the laughter had finally died down and the tree put back up, no one had the heart to scold Gunner. Instead they praised her for saving them from the savage beast. When the decorations were up and dinner over with, presents were placed under the tree. Gunner found out that tomorrow was Christmas and that it was a very special day. Evelyn told the boys and Gunner the story of how baby Jesus was born. Gunner enjoyed the story very much. The boys had obviously heard the story before, but listened to their mother respectfully. That night, Gunner watched as Jack tossed and turned. He was far too excited to fall asleep.

Early the next morning, the boys snuck down stairs and began shaking the few presents that were under the tree. Gunner could feel that they weren't supposed to be doing this and began nudging Jack, feeling he would be the only one to listen to her. He understood, but before he could do anything, Evelyn came down the stairs with a smirk on her face. The boys stood there not knowing what to say, but Evelyn just said "What are you waiting for?" and all the boys dove in. They were very appreciative of what they got and thanked each other and their mother for every gift. Gunner was playing with some of Jack's new guitar picks, when the boys brought out a present for Gunner. She excitedly ripped off the poorly wrapped paper (they tried) and was shocked to find a brand new chewing bone. She was delighted and went around thanking everyone like she had seen them do earlier, but she did it with a gigantic sloppy wet kiss. This took some chasing as the boys tried to avoid her tongue, but she got everyone, including Bobby.

Later on, the boys and Evelyn went to church, while Gunner stayed home with her bone (she wasn't allowed in). When the boys came home, they began a snowball fight outside and Gunner ran out to join them. She tried to make a snowball, but after much failure, she gave up and took to lightly tackling the boys into the snow. This turned into a gigantic wrestling match between everyone and only halted when Evelyn called them in for Christmas dinner. Gunner was snuck some turkey under the table by Bobby and enjoyed the carolers that came to the door. She thought Jack could sing way better, but the mood in the air was too happy to not be appreciative of their attempt. She went to sleep that night excited about what tomorrow would bring and what new adventures she would have.


	5. Hockey

_I just want to thank everyone who reads my stories. I'd love some feedback and to hear any idea anyone has for chapters. I have a lot written so far, thirteen chapters I think. I've written up to the part where the brothers kill the people who killed their mother. I actually have a few questions. I forget if the brothers interrogate council man Douglas before or after they break into their mothers' boyfriends' house. Also, whose house was Bobby and Jack searching in when they found all of the guns? Finally, was council man Douglas interrogated on the same day they went to the bowling alley? I saw this movie the day it came out, August 12th, so I'm sorry if I'm a bit forgetful. Thanks again to all who read._

**Hockey**

It was freezing outside, but Gunner had braved the weather to finally follow the brothers to see what they did with those weird looking sticks. She had tried to fetch one, like she did other sticks, but this had made Bobby fairly angry. This was a special stick. She was not to eat it. Or play tug-o-war with it as she also learned when he tried to take it away from her. "You taught her tug-o-war Angel!" Bobby had yelled, "This is your fault!" "Don't blame me!" Angel had replied, "Jack taught her to fetch!"

A giant ring with a shiny looking surface caught Gunner's attention. This was awkward; she thought and attempted to step on it, falling as she went. Jack skated onto the ice and helped Gunner off the rink. "Oh!" thought Gunner, "I need those special shoes with metal on the bottom!" She attempted to borrow Bobby's, but he wasn't in the mood for sharing, resulting in another tug-o-war. Finally, they were all ready and got onto the ice, carrying those weird looking sticks. There was a black cookie-like object they were hitting around. Gunner really wanted to eat it. "I wonder what it tastes like?" she thought to herself. Realizing she'd have to wait until after they were done, Gunner sat quietly on the side of the rink. After a few moments, Gunner believed this game was a little too rough for her liking. Way too much pushing, especially with Bobby and Jack. "Why couldn't that kid just leave Jack alone!" Gunner thought. She knew Bobby was only fooling around, but it still bothered her. Gunner couldn't help but smirk when Jack smashed Bobby into the boards, getting a goal for his team. Gunner barked her approval, causing Jerry and Angel to fall on the ice laughing hysterically. Suddenly, Gunner had her chance to grab the cookie! It slid right over to her. It was just asking to be tasted! She grabbed it quickly and took off running. The brothers tried to chase her, but had their skates on and were far too slow. "HAHA!" thought Gunner. "That's for not sharing your skates Bobby." By the time the brothers had taken off their skates and caught Gunner, it was getting dark. "Way to ruin the game Gunner!" Bobby said angrily. "Don't blame her Bobby. She just wanted to play with us." Jack said in Gunner's defense. "Thanks Jack", thought Gunner. She was already upset enough. That cookie tasted horrible! "Let's start walking home" Jerry said, "We got homework anyway." "Homework?" Gunner thought. Like Bobby ever cared about homework. She wondered if Bobby would actually attempt it this time. Apparently, she'd have to wait and see, longer than she'd hoped too, because on the way home, they ran into Angel's dream and Bobby's worst nightmare.

"Sofi!" Angel said excitedly. "Oh joy, oh bliss" Bobby said sarcastically. "Hi baby" Sofi responded lovingly to Angel. "And toddler" she added to Bobby in and angry teasing tone. "Oh please stop you hurting my feelings" said Bobby with absolutely no emotion. Out of the corner of her eye, Gunner could see Jack smirk, and she knew that this had been going on for a while. "I'm going to hurt more than your feelings if you don't shut up Bobby!" Sofi began to yell. "Guys just stop! Don't start this again!" Jerry tried to reason before things got out of control, but it was too late. "Oh! So you think you think you can take me you crazy bitch!" Bobby started shouting. "Are you gonna let him speak to me that way Angel?" Sofi asked him, wanting some assistance. Angel had no idea what to do and Sofi started yelling a bunch of words that Gunner had no understanding of. "WE DON'T SPEAK SPANISH!" Bobby yelled, "You're crazy!" Than Bobby had an idea and his eyes lit up. "So, La Vida Loca…" "Don't you even start name calling with me Bobby!" Sofi replied. Gunner couldn't take the yelling anymore, she grabbed Bobby's special stick and took off running towards the house. "Hey!" Bobby yelled! "Come on guys, we gotta go!" Jerry said, taking the opportunity to get out of there. Angel said goodbye to Sofi and "see you tonight". "What?" Bobby said. "There's no way she's coming with us!" "She'll be too scared." he added in just to tick Sofi off. Jerry turned to Bobby with a look in his eyes. "What?" Bobby asked, almost not wanting to know the answer. "Camille's coming too." "What do you mean Camille's coming too?" Bobby questioned. "Come on Bobby! She won't be any trouble!" Jerry said. "No, but we'll be!" Bobby replied. "Next thing you now Jackie's gonna be bringing his boyfriend too!" Gunner didn't hear any more after this, nor did she want to know what the boys would be up to. She was too far away, still running to the house.

That night, the brothers went out and took care of some punks that had been harassing Jack. Unfortunately, Sofi was terrified that someone would get hurt and called the police, which resulted in Evelyn and Gunner going to the police station at two in the morning. Thanks to Evelyn, and the fact that the punks had been scared so bad they wouldn't press charges, the boys got off with a warning from the police. Evelyn, on the other hand, had a more severe punishment waiting. Needless to say, the boys were grounded indefinitely and had a never-ending list of chores, but hey, when did that ever stop them from causing more mischief!


	6. Summer Fun

_I'd just like to thank sparkl0143 for answering my questions. You're a big help and thanks to you and everyone else who continues to read my story. I enjoy writing and I love this movie and the characters, so I'm having tons of fun!_

**Summer Fun**

Gunner loved summer. It was her first one; she was barely a year old. It meant no cold, no school, and more time to spend with the brothers. That morning, everyone was packing to go to the beach. Gunner didn't necessarily know what a "beach" was, but hey, if the brothers were going it had to be fun! Gunner watched as Evelyn packed lunches and the boys through footballs and frisbees into the trunk. It was very cramped in the car, with three brothers and Gunner in the back. It was also very hot because the air conditioner wasn't working, so all the windows were rolled down. Gunner loved sticking her head out the window. The speed of the car, the wind in her fur, Jack telling her to get off of him...

When the car finally stopped, all the brothers dove out of the car into the fresh air. Gunner followed her family down to a gigantic water bowl. It was huge! She couldn't even see the other side. And it was surrounded by millions of tiny rocks, which were extremely hot. Gunner and the brothers ran to the water to cool off their feet, but when Gunner reached the edge of the lake, she froze in terror. The water was coming after her! She ran from it and was able to just narrowly miss the wave. All the brothers started laughing at her as she approached the water again, only to flee in terror as another wave came onto the shore. Finally Jack went with her and she was able to brave the waves to join in the splashing game the brothers had begun. Gunner had never played frisbee in the water before and thought that it was much more fun then regular frisbee. If you fell trying to catch the frisbee the water broke your fall and every time it was thrown, it turned into a water fight to get it. Finally, Gunner grew tired. It was harder running in the water then she had expected. She went over to where Evelyn was sitting in a chair and laid down in the nice warm sand for a nap. She fell asleep listening to the brothers wrestle and yell in the water, while there mother told them to be careful and stay nearby.

"MOM!" Came a terrified voice. Gunner's head shot up. "MOM!" Angel screamed again. Gunner ran toward Angel, prepared to defend him against the water beast that had chased her earlier, but he wasn't the one in danger. Gunner peered into the lake to see Bobby starting to swim out into the water, Jerry not far behind. The waves had grown larger since she fell asleep. Evelyn ran over to where Angel was as well. "We were playing a game, and Bobby said Jack was afraid to go too far, and Jack said 'no he wasn't', and he started to go out, and then he went under, and he didn't come back up, and…" Angel was frantic. "An under toe must've got him!" Evelyn gasped in horror. She began screaming for a lifeguard and for Bobby and Jerry to be careful. Angel tried to calm his mom, watching his brothers try to swim against the waves. Gunner leapt into the water and began swimming in the direction Bobby was swimming in. Gunner didn't know where Jack was, but she knew she had to keep swimming. Her strong legs caught up to Bobby and Jerry quickly and she soon passed them. Gunner caught a glimpse of Jack's head as he was able to grab some air before he was sucked under again. Gunner swam as fast as she could, reaching the youngest brother before anyone else. He grabbed onto the fur around her neck and Gunner tried to swim back to shore, but the extra weight was pulling her under. She just had to hold on. She swam against the under toe that had Jack and tried to catch waves that would send her towards Bobby. When Bobby and Jerry finally reached her, after what seemed like hours, the three were able to pull Jack to shore. Angel and Evelyn rushed into the shallows to help.

"Come on you little fairy!" Bobby yelled to Jack. "Breathe!" They watched Jack, with intense eyes and they all let out a breath when he began to cough up water. Evelyn quickly brought over a towel and Bobby sat him upright. "I told you that you couldn't go that far!" Bobby said, trying to scold his brother, but Gunner knew that Bobby felt horrible because he had been the one to tease Jack about it in the first place. Nobody said anything to Jack about almost drowning. All the brothers felt badly about it and had been worried to death. After a few more hours of playing on the sand and in the SHALLOW water, it was time to go home. Gunner could sense the chill in the evening air. Summer would soon be over, and the cold would set in again. That was okay with Gunner. She'd had enough summer fun for one day. At least in the winter, she wouldn't have to worry about water beasts!


	7. Halloween

**Halloween**

Gunner really didn't get Halloween. You dress up, knock on a stranger's door and get candy. Evelyn was always saying not to take candy from strangers. Oh well, the boys seemed to be enjoying it. Jack had dressed up as a rock star, Jerry was a vampire, Angel wore a hockey mask and had a knife, and Bobby put on his leather jacket and just put fake blood everywhere. No one dared to ask him what he was. They had wrapped Gunner in toilet paper and called her a mummy. Gunner called it stupid, but it made them happy. Though a lot of people believed the boys were too old for trick-or-treating, they didn't care. It was free candy! And they didn't even have to steal it! They eventually met up with Sofi again as well as another girl who appeared to be Jerry' girlfriend, Camille. Gunner liked Camille better than Sofi; she actually noticed her and didn't yell like a crazy person. Camille and Sofi weren't really dressed up for Halloween, they were just dressed up. "What are you Sofi, a hooker?" Bobby asked with a smirk. "You know, you're supposed to be something your not on Halloween!" At this Sofi began freaking in those weird words again, Bobby called it Spanish.

Eventually everyone calmed down and was having a pretty good time, until Camille noticed a younger looking boy and his sister getting hassled by some punks. "They're taking their candy!" Camille exclaimed. All at once, the Mercer brother's started chasing after the thieves, but they had a car, and no matter how fast the boys, or Gunner, ran they just couldn't catch them. They boy was trying to be strong for his sister, but she was in tears. Camille was trying to calm her down, but she was inconsolable. Gunner went over to the little girl and licked her cheek. The girl calmed down a bit at the chance to pet the dog, but was still crying. Bobby, having no idea what to do hung back, with Angel not far behind. Jeremiah was trying to help Camille calm the kids down, but with little effect. Jack, who'd been pretty quiet most of the night stepped forward and handed the girl his bag full of candy. She stopped crying and looked up at him. A smile crept onto her lips and she whispered thank you. Jeremiah and Camille handed over their bags too, with Sofi and Angel following suit. "Come on Bobby!" Jerry said turning to his brother. "Uh!" Bobby grunted, shoving the bag towards the kids, who looked kind of scared by all of his fake blood, but gratefully took the candy anyway.

They walked the kids home to make sure they had no more trouble. They excitedly told their mother about all the candy they had and thanked the brothers one last time before heading in for the night. "Great!" Bobby said, "There goes dinner!" Jerry just gave Bobby a look. "Mom always has leftover candy." Jack said. It was true. She always bought enough candy to feed the neighborhood three times. "You never know who will come and I don't want to leave one child without candy." She would always say. The boys attempted to start their candy collecting over again, but eventually gave up when all the lights started to go out. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school." Camille said to Jerry as she kissed him goodbye. They walked Sofi home and after a ten minute long goodbye/argument, the boys went home too. Gunner was so tired! All that chasing after cars, trick-or-treating, arguing, and helping people really tires a dog out. She took her regular place at the end of Jack's bed and fell asleep listening to the rock star play his guitar.

_I've really enjoyed writing about the younger years of the Mercer's, but starting in the next chapter, I'm going to jump ahead a few years. If you guys want me to write flashbacks so that you can still experience the younger years, let me know! (I'll probably end up sticking a few in anyway, I love the little Mercer's!)_


	8. Goodbyes

_Well, here it is. I've started the older years. :( I'll miss those younger Mercer's, but fear not. I will include flashbacks occasionally. I'm in an abnormally good mood today:) I'm really enjoying making these fowny and smiley faces if you haven't noticed. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's kind of sad, so be warned._

**Goodbyes**

Gunner spent her next few years with the Mercer brothers. Sticking with them through all their troubles, all their successes (however few there were), and experiencing all of the sibling relationship that existed between the brothers. Slowly but surely though, the brother's grew up and left. Bobby left first. Gunner didn't understand why he left, but he had started to go to a place called "jail" a lot, where he wasn't allowed to visit. So Gunner had gradually got used to Bobby not being there. She still missed him though. He was the leader to all of their adventures. Jeremiah was the second to leave. He married Camille and moved into a house close by, so Gunner could still see him. He had two puppies, Daniella and Amelia. Angel was the most recent one to leave. He joined something called the military. Apparently there's lots of fighting that happens. Angel's tough, so he should be fine.

Now was the hardest goodbye yet though. Jack began packing his things, like the others had before they left. She watched him from the bed, where she'd slept every night, slowly packing their history into boxes. He was the youngest. She was most protective of him. He was the one who needed her comfort. Who was so gentle when he played with her. Who had made her understand that no one would hit her anymore. She was going to miss him so much. He was going to be a rock star. Play the guitar for everyone. In a way, this made Gunner happy. If she enjoyed his guitar, imagine how happy he would make the world. How happy he would be! It still hurt though. "Don't look at me like that girl!" Jack said, seeing her sad eyes. "I'm not abandoning you. I'm really not! As soon as I settle down with my career, you can come with me. Just don't want you to have to live a life on the road." He seemed really upset and genuine, so Gunner licked his face to let him know everything was okay. Jack reached for the guitar, but Gunner stopped him with her paw. It was like magic and he understood. "Okay girl", he smiled "I'll play you one last song". As Gunner listened to the beautiful sound created by Jack's fingers on those strings, she swore she felt a tear fall down her cheek.

Gunner watched Jack loading the car from the window. Jeremiah was there to say goodbye. She watched as Jack hugged his brother and mother. She rushed out the doggy door and jumped up to get her hug as well. He started the engine and pulled out of the driveway. Evelyn and Jeremiah waved until the car was out of sight. Evelyn went inside, Jeremiah went home, but Gunner sat on the driveway. Staring after the path the car had taken, hoping with all her might that he might come back and take her too. Or, that everyone would come home. That they could be all together once again. That everything would go back to normal. That they would be a family. Little did Gunner know that things would never be the same again.

Gunner was still a happy dog. She had Evelyn's love which was more than she could ask for. Jerry visited once a week and Jack stopped by when he could. Gunner began to grow closer to Evelyn because she was able to spend more time with her. Helping her with laundry and shopping. Going with her wherever she went. "Come on Gunner." Evelyn said, "We've got to go to the store, a boy was caught shoplifting." Good old Evelyn, always trying to help someone. Gunner got into the familiar car which she had entered so many times before. They drove down familiar roads and got out at the familiar convenience store. Everything that felt normal and safe, was about to get blown away.

Gunner couldn't enter the store. She was a dog and on the sign it had a dog crossed out. Gunner had learned that these stores she couldn't go into. She saw a little boy exit the store, "probably the thief", she thought. "Bet Evelyn set him straight." Two men wearing ski-masks then walked by her and entered the store. She had a low growl in her throat as they walked by. She didn't like them one bit. She had a bad feeling. Then a loud bang sounded and Gunner jumped. She recognized that sound from her adventures with the brothers. It was a gun! She jumped up to see through the window and to her horror saw the gunman pointing the gun at her dear Evelyn. "No!" she thought and began barking madly. But there was nothing she could do. They shot her twice and she went still. The minute the door opened Gunner rushed in to check on her, but it was too late, she was gone. Gunner turned to attack the gunmen, but she found the store door had closed behind them and they got into their car and drove away. She had never felt so alone, since the day she had been abandoned on the streets. She went over to her beloved Evelyn, laid her head down onto her shoulder, and waited to wake up, for this had to be a nightmare.


	9. Together

_Hey everyone, I hope you're enjoying this.I'd just like to apologize because this chapter is really short.I hope I'm keeping the charcters similar to the way they were in the film. If anyone is noticing actions or things said that they believe is out of character for that person, please let me know. I'm trying to keep Jack innocent, Angel funny, Jerry responsible and Bobby a smart ass, so tell me if I'm doing an okay job of it.In this chapter, alot of their personalities aren't really shown, or are distorted a bit (Bobby crying), but that's because they just got back from their mother's funeral, so I was trying to keep true to the movie and I know that I'd act differently if someone in my family died. Now I'll stop babbling and let you all read the chapter.I know you have better things to do than read these gigantic comments at the top:)_

**Together**

Unfortunately, Gunner didn't wake up. It wasn't a nightmare. The police came and had to drag Gunner away from Evelyn. They stuck her in the pound, not knowing what to do with her. Luckily, Jerry came and rescued her from that horrible cage and took her to his house, where she took up the role as a comfort for his two girls. The day of the "funeral" came. Gunner had to listen to this concept several times. Apparently, they would get to say their goodbyes to Evelyn even though she wouldn't respond and then they would bury her to rest in peace in heaven. Jerry did not want to take her, but she left him no choice. She was able to convince the girls she should be there and they refused to go without her.

Once there, Jerry broke away from the family and she followed him, just to make sure he was okay. To her surprise Bobby and Jack appeared. She looked around for Angel, but he was no where in sight. That was okay because seeing Bobby and Jack was enough excitement. She was careful to contain herself however because she knew that this was a very sad place and she was supposed to be respectful. She slowly walked over after the brothers had reunited and got a "Hello" pat from Jack and Bobby. During the funeral, everyone was very quiet. Some people cried. Jack was crying and kept his hand on Gunner's head the entire time. She tried to comfort him, but she couldn't take away the pain. She felt horribly guilty. She had been there. She could have done something. She could have saved them this suffering. But instead, she had let their world and hers fall apart.

Jerry's house went by with a blur. Lot's of people talking. The cops showed up. Jack and Bobby talked with Jerry's kids and Gunner looked after the girls' small little white puppy, making sure it didn't get into trouble. As the brothers and Gunner arrived at Evelyn's house, the nervousness in the air was clear. How could they enter the house without Evelyn there to great them, to love them. Gunner waited for the brother's to unlock the door when a voice made them all turn around with a start. Gunner recognized it immediately and jumped onto Angel giving him a gigantic doggy kiss. The brothers hugged Angel and they all entered the house, stopping in the doorway, unsure of how to proceed. Bobby, the natural leader and oldest brother, told everyone what rooms to take. Gunner followed Jack to his room and naturally got up on the end of the bed. Jack smiled at this, remembering how it used to be. She could see the tears welling up in his eyes and as they fell she licked them away, not wanting him to cry anymore. He pulled out his guitar and softly strummed his fingers against the familiar strings. It seemed everyone was trying to hold on to something, anything normal or familiar. Gunner sat on the bed, listening to the music fill the room. With her sensitive ears, she could hear Bobby crying from their mother's washroom. That's when the seriousness of the pain really hit. Evelyn was gone. Never coming back. Bobby new it and it hurt, so did Jack, Angel and Jeremiah. Even though Gunner had tried to avoid the pain, it hit anyway and she laid there on the bed, crying as well. Her only comfort was that at least they were all together.


	10. Bonds of Brotherhood

_Hi again! I hope everyone liked the last chapter. I'm trying to update everyday, but if I do end up skipping one or two, please don't think I've stopped. I'm just saying that because I go horse back riding tomorrow (Hooray! I wait all week for wednesdays!) and I'm not sure whether I'll have enough time in between two hours at the barn, the half-hour car ride their and back, homework, and of course watching LOST.I'll try my best, but I send you my apolgogies if I can't update:)_

**Bonds of Brotherhood**

"Crying in here ya little fairy?" Came a voice from the doorway. Gunner looked up as Bobby entered the room and sat down on the floor. She looked over to Jack who seemed annoyed, but had no energy to defend himself. "Just leave it alone" he replied. "Being in mom's room too weird?" Jeremiah was now also in the room standing beneath the doorway. "WAY WEIRD!" Bobby replied, his eyes still tinged a slight shade of red from crying. They heard footsteps down the hall and Angel appeared in the hallway, but didn't enter the room. "I'm going to grab some air." He told his brothers. He wasn't fooling anyone. Even Gunner knew he was going to find Sofi. His statement caused an onslaught of smart remarks from his brothers, as Jack sat on the bed laughing. Even Gunner decided to bark her protest. That woman was crazy! Angel insisted he was just going for a walk and slammed the door as he left.

A couple hours later, shots could be heard on the street and Gunner could hear Angel enter the front door. She went over and wasn't at all surprised to find Sofi there as well. (Gunner was confused by her attire. Who wears lingerie outside in the winter?) When Gunner caught Bobby's look at the sight of Sofi in the front hallway, she took off. She wanted to be no where near this argument. It was no use though. Gunner could have been a block away and still heard Bobby and Sofi screaming at each other. Sofi must've won because she never left, or maybe Bobby had something worse in mind for her. Gunner never knew for sure.

The next morning, Gunner understood why Bobby had let Sofi stay. There was a list of chores posted on the fridge for her to do. Though she didn't seem happy she started them, but eventually she got tired of Bobby's criticism and another fight ensued. Gunner saw Jerry getting into the car, so Gunner bolted out of the house and jumped in beside him. "You can't take it either, huh." Jerry laughed as he willingly let her ride with him. It turns out he was going to buy a turkey for Thanksgiving. Gunner had to wait outside the store, which made her extremely nervous. The last time she was made to wait outside, her life had changed forever. A loud bang sounded from inside the store and Gunner lost it. She barked insanely in front of the store and the first chance she had she bolted through the door and ran everywhere looking for Jerry. As she went to turn a corner she slipped, right into a box display, causing the whole thing to come crashing down on top of her. It turns out the bang was just some trucks behind the store unloading supplies and when Jerry was summoned to aisle three by the PA system sounding that a mad dog was loose in the store, he didn't look at all pleased or amused with her performance. Back in the car, Gunner tried to put on her best puppy face, but it never worked on any of the brothers but Jack. Jerry just sat there stone faced and continued driving. Gunner sulked in the passenger seat and Jerry started laughing. "I'm touched you care so much" he said with a smirk. Jerry realized that he couldn't stay mad at Gunner. There was no point. They all needed each other right now.

Back at the house, Jack had started cooking dinner, with Sofi nowhere in sight. "YES!" thought Gunner. "Peace and quiet!" Jerry walked into the family room and sat down on a chair to watch the hockey game. Angel began flipping discs at Bobby and Jerry just to see how far he could push them. "Why you always gotta do that?" Bobby asked, sounding annoyed. Jerry also asked him to stop, but to no avail. Gunner found this very amusing and began trying to catch the flying discs in her mouth. They reminded her of little frisbees. All at once, Jerry got up and hit Angel. Gunner left the room to grab Jack; she didn't want him to be left out. He followed Gunner into he family room to see Bobby narrating a wrestling match between Jerry and Angel, or Nitro and Midnight, as Bobby called it. Jerry won, but before he could get up, Gunner had jumped onto the brothers, wanting to play too. "Dog Pile" Jack laughed, turning around to go back into the kitchen, but was pulled back into the living room and thrown on the floor by Angel. As the three brothers wrestled on the ground, Gunner ran around the room, barking with excitement and joy. She took notice of Bobby sitting alone on the couch and tried to get him involved to, but he easily pushed her away. Seeing this, Bobby's brothers attacked him on the couch. "No way are you getting outta this without a bruise or two!" Angel said as he attempted to get Bobby into a headlock. Gunner watched amazed as Bobby handled the onslaught of his three brothers pretty well, even managing to make sure he messed up Jack's hair in the process. (Not that it could really be messed up any more, but Bobby always enjoyed bothering Jack by messing with his hair!) When Jack finally had to get back to cooking dinner, everything calmed down a bit and Gunner went into the kitchen to see what she could do to assist Jack with dinner. One thing was for sure, the bond that the brothers had was still there!


	11. Old Bonds, New Responsibility

_Hi again! I'm happy to say I managed to update today. I'd like to thank ZoeinGreece for reviewing, I was having a horrible day andyour commentstotally lifted my spirits. Hope everyone enjoys this chapter!_

**Old Bonds, New Responsibility**

Thanksgiving dinner was very weird. All the brothers kept looking over at Evelyn's chair. Gunner couldn't understand why, but when she did, she almost believed she saw Evelyn sitting there, telling Gunner how much she was loved. Finally, Bobby seemed to have enough of the awkward silence and proposed a game of hockey. The brothers were eager to accept and get out of the house. Gunner just sighed and hoped that there wouldn't be any trips to the hospital today. The game went rather well, for the Mercer team anyway. The other team, Gunner thought, would be lucky if they weren't traumatized from ever playing hockey again. Gunner was proud of how well Jack did. Even though she didn't really like the whole hitting idea, she enjoyed watching Jack show these punks that even though he didn't have as much muscle as they did, he could take them down. Afterwards, the brothers went to a bar. Bobby knew the bar owner and Gunner was allowed in if she'd stay quiet. Half of the bar would be to drunk to notice her anyway. The owner of the bar came over to talk to the brothers and informed them of the witness of the murder. "Witness?" thought Gunner. She hadn't remembered seeing anyone else around, but maybe she had just been too panicked to notice.

All of a sudden Jerry got extremely upset by the conversation and he got up and began to put his coat on. It was obvious he wanted nothing to do with whatever the brothers had planned. Bobby didn't seem to be to happy that Jerry was leaving them, but was too concerned on getting the exact whereabouts of the witness or at least a place he could talk to someone about the witness. Soon, Gunner was in the car with the brothers, wondering what on earth was going on. She moved nervously in the back seat, continuously stepping on Jack. "Gunner!" Jack said as she stepped on him for the umpteenth time.

Finally the car stopped and everyone got out. The trunk was opened and Gunner was horrified to see a gun being handed over to Angel. What did they think they were doing! They couldn't attempt to get into trouble now! Not so soon after what had happened. A gas can was handed over to Jack and Gunner became even more distressed as she now knew Bobby wanted something and was determined to get it. "We gonna do the gas thing?" asked Jack innocently. "Yeah, we're gonna do the gas thing." Bobby responded in a girly, teasing voice. Gunner growled angrily as Jack lit up a cigarette. She hated that smell. "Sorry, girl." Jack apologized. "What do I get?" asked Jack before Bobby could close the trunk. "Here ya go sweetheart, poke 'em with this." Bobby said, handing him a crowbar. Gunner was somewhat relieved that the youngest Mercer wouldn't have a gun. Jack on the other hand responded with an annoyed "thanks".

Gunner followed the brothers into the building. She was still annoyed by Jack's cigarette. She knew they were no good and had tried to tell him on many occasions.

_Flashback: Gunner couldn't stand the smell of the lit cigarette any longer. Jack was leaning against a wall, while he and his brothers talked amongst themselves, trying to figure out an excuse to why they would be home late. Gunner saw the opportune moment as Jack put his hand with the cigarette to his side. She leapt up and grabbed it in her mouth (eww) making sure the hot part stayed far away from her face. Jack was shocked and attempted to recover it, but Gunner decided this was the best time to innocently play keep away, a new game Jack had recently taught her. Jack's brothers laughed until their sides hurt as they watched their youngest brother stumble about tying to outwit the dog, but Gunner was fast and because she had four legs instead of two, she was able to maneuver around better than him. Finally Jack collapsed on the ground out of breath and looked at Gunner telling her he gave up. She dropped the cigarette and went over to him. "It's for the best" she thought. Jack looked kind of mad at her though, which made her feel horrible. She licked his face. "Oh No! Not this time." Jack said. "I'm not forgiving you that easily. Gunner wouldn't take him ignoring her and jumped on top of his chest smothering him with nuzzles and licks. "No wa-way." Jack tried to sound serious, but it was hard because he was laughing. "Get him Gunner." Bobby cheered the dog on. "Show him whose top dog." Angel agreed through his laughter. "Okay! Okay! I give!" Jack finally said, ruffling Gunner's fur. "I can't believe you Jack!" Bobby said. "You're such a little fairy! Giving into a dog!" "Mercer's don't give in!" Angel chimed in with his brother. "Hey! Gunner's a Mercer, so technically that could have went on forever than." Jeremiah said, trying to justify Jack giving up to the dog. "The older usually Mercer beats the younger one anyway." Jerry continued "and in dog years, Gunner's older." "Whatever Jerry." Bobby replied "at least now we have an excuse to why we're late." He added. "What?" the youngest brother asked. "Gunner." He replied simply. "Blame it on her." Gunner looked up at Bobby. "I don't think so!" She thought and began attacking the older Mercer as well. The flashback ended with Gunner remembering Jack teasing "Don't give in Bobby, she's just a dog!" _

Bobby began impersonating various people, yelling that the cops were there. Gunner had to hold her breath so that she wouldn't laugh as Bobby impersonated a girl. He was rather good. Gunner began barking, trying to impersonate the police dogs she had seen on television. "Release the hounds!" Angel said, as Bobby elbowed him in the gut. When they had reached the main room, Bobby grabbed the guy Gunner guessed was going to be his source of information, while Jack and Angel placed people on a couch and poured gasoline all over them. Gas was poured all over the boy being interrogated and Gunner had to breathe through her mouth. Her strong sense of smell couldn't handle all of that gasoline. While Angel was attempting to force a girl who remained standing onto the couch, Gunner noticed a guy sneaking up behind him with an empty bottle, looking like he was about to smack Angel over the head with it. Gunner immediately leaped over and grabbed the guys pant leg, pulling him away from Angel. He dropped the bottle out of surprise and it shattered. Gunner stepped on a piece and winced in pain, but didn't let go. Jack was able to grab the guy and throw him onto the couch before he could do anymore damage to their plan.

Bobby interrogated the boy for a while. The boy said that it couldn't have been his friends playing basketball who had seen it because the court lights close at ten. Bobby picked the boy up and started to pull him towards the exit. "What he fuck do you think you're doing?" asked the boy angrily. This earned him a punch across the face as Bobby responded with "We're going for a little ride." Angel and Jack followed, with Jack leaving the rest of the kids with "Goodbye" and "I hope you all have a lovely evening." "Nice." Gunner thought. Jack never was too good at tough talk, but that was just sad. It took the brothers awhile before they realized Gunner was having trouble keeping up with them. Jack inspected the foot Gunner was limping on and pulled a piece of glass out of the bottom of her paw. Gunner whined in pain, but Jack continued tending to her paw. He had to use a spare cloth to tie around her paw until they got home.

Gunner waited nervously by the basketball court, praying that the lights turned off at ten. If they didn't, Gunner didn't want to think about what would happen to the poor boy. At 10:05, Bobby had had enough and began dragging the boy towards the car, screaming that he was a liar the whole way. Angel and Jack were following Bobby, but Gunner stayed at the court, starring at the lights. Then it happened. They shut off and Gunner began barking like mad as the boy screamed "Look! Look!" "You are one lucky piece of shit!" Bobbysaid. He released the boy and the brothers headed home. "Tomorrow we're going to the store and we'll take a look at the video tape." Bobby said. Gunner could feel Jack's hand tense as he petted her, and knew he was scared to see what actually happened and not brave enough to let his brothers know. Jack questioned Bobby that night. Asking him why he felt someone purposely killed their mother. Bobby explained that some people covered up murders with another crime and paid off a witness to give police the wrong lead. Gunner knew one thing was for sure. Even if the brothers still had there old bond, they definitely had a new responsibility to each other and their mother. Avenging her death.


	12. Finding Hope

_Hi again! I've just got some information on the Four Brothers DVD. There's going to be an audio commentary by director John Singleton, nine deleted scenes, five behind the scenes featurettes and the theatrical trailer. I can't wait! But for now, here's another chapter!_

**Finding Hope**

Gunner slept horribly that night. She lay on the foot of Jack's bed, reliving the night of Evelyn's death over and over again. Each time she knew what the men in masks were going to do and each time she couldn't stop them. Gunner was glad when sunlight peaked through the closed drapes in Jack's room and she jumped down to the floor. The dog winced in pain at her forgotten injured paw and almost fell over. She caught herself and carefully made her way out into the hallway. Before descending down the stairs, she looked into Evelyn's room, saddened by the fact that she would no longer see Evelyn waking up to greet her.Hobbling down the stairs reminded her of her first few weeks at the Mercer house. It reminded her of starting a new life. She heard a noise coming from the family room and wondered who was up already. She found Bobby lying sprawled out on the sofa watching T.V. She approached him and put her head under his hanging hand and received a scratch between her ears. She loved being up early with Bobby. When no one was around, it was the only time he ever really showed affection for her.

Later that morning, Jerry arrived. He was coming with everyone to see the tape. As the car sat parked outside the store, Gunner started to tense up. Memories came flooding back and she tried shaking her head fiercely to remove them. Jack bent down and stoked her head gently to try and calm her. When the store owner arrived, he first refused to show Bobby the tape. "It is police evidence; I can't reveal it to you." Bobby's powerful methods of persuasion (his fists) made him change his mind. Bobby even got the store owner to allow Gunner inside, much to Gunner's relief. She didn't think she'd be able to withstand waiting outside again! Gunner felt pained by the expressions on the brothers' faces as they watched their mother get shot. Jack was the only one who allowed her to comfort him, his eyes burning with tears. "They had the money!" Bobby said finally. He questioned the store owner on the guy and then made his way out of the store towards the school. As the brothers left the store he shouted even angrier "That wasn't no gang shooting! That was an execution. They set mom up. They set her up!" Bobby began running for the school, his brothers and Gunner in hot pursuit.

They entered the basketball court, where a game was being played and Gunner watched the brothers spring into action. Angel slipped back out the door and Jeremiah and Bobby made their way onto the court. To Gunner's dismay Bobby hit some guy in the head with the basketball, than pulled out his gun. As Bobby questioned the spectators on the witness, giving the description he was given by the store owner, Jack and Gunner spotted a boy getting out of the stands and attempting to leave. Jack and Gunner chased the kid down the hall. Gunner was slowed down by the fact that she was laughing as jack yelled "Hey kid! No running in the halls!" The kid attempted to leave the building, but for some reason the door wouldn't open. Jack and Gunner caught the kid and Angel emerged from behind the door. "Nice!" thought Gunner. She stayed with Angel, while Jack went to get Bobby and Jerry.

Gunner could see the fear in the kid's eyes as the brothers circled him in a very intimidating way. It turns out the kids name was Keenon and the witness was his brother Damian. "He's my brother." The kid pleaded to Bobby. "No way!" said Bobby. "These are my brothers!" "No dog, he's my real brother." (Gunner felt slightly insulted, being a dog and all.) "Yeah, these are my real brothers. I'm Bobby this is Angel, Jack and Jeremiah." Gunner barked as Bobby left her out. "Oh, and that's Gunner." Bobby added for her. They got the kid and his brother's address off of his report card and got in the car to make their way over there. Maybe there was hope. Maybe this "witness" could lead them to the killers and revenge!


	13. Close Calls

_I'd just like to thank ZoeinGreece for the reviews on chapters 3 and 5. You always have such nice things to say that make my day! I'd also like to thak everyone who reads my chapters, I hope I keep you all interested. I'm so excited! I'm going to see Four Brothers for the second time tonight! Everyone keeps making fun of me, but I don't care, I think the movie is amazing!_

**Close Calls**

The brothers were waiting patiently outside the apartment when Jerry realized what time it was. "Let me out." He said to Bobby. "I've got Gymnastics." "No way! I didn't know you were into that stuff!" teased Bobby. "It's for the girls!" Jerry responded angrily. "Why don't you take Jack with you, he's flexible." Bobby teased. "You're the one who took ballet Bobby!" Jack responded, slightly proud of himself for being able to come back. Gunner laughed under her breath, it was a good one. Jack sung quietly and traced his finger over the condensation on the window. Gunner was almost asleep when she heard Jack yell "There he is!"

Unfortunately, Bobby pulled out his gun and it turned into a chase. The guy got into the elevator and Bobby and Angel began running up the stairs. Jack stayed behind to see which floor the elevator stopped at and Gunner stuck close to Bobby, who she knew would probably be the one in danger. Angel got winded early and began to slow down. "Six!" Gunner heard Jack yell from the bottom floor. "It stopped at six!" Bobby sighed as he realized that he still had more stairs to go. Even Gunner was winded, she knew she shouldn't have taken that extra bacon Bobby had snuck her that morning. She needed to look after her girlish figure!

When they reached the top, two giant rottweilers attacked Bobby and Gunner. One bit into Bobby's arm and the other got into a fight with Gunner. Angel finally reached the top and was shocked at what he found. He grabbed the fire extinguisher and used it to get the dogs off of his brother and Gunner. The two brothers and Gunner rushed into the boy's apartment to find he was no where in sight. Bobby found him climbing out the window using a rope. He tried to stop the boy nicely (with his gun), but that didn't work. Gunner watched as Bobby grabbed a cleaver and chopped the rope. Gunner jumped up onto the window to see the boy fall to the ground. "Great! He's dead!" Angel said looking annoyed. Gunner barked and gave Bobby a look that said "was that really necessary?" "He's not dead!" Bobby replied. "Let's go talk to him now." As they began walking back down the hallway, Jack finally made it up the stairs. "Where are we going?" he asked confused. He turned to Angel "What did Bobby do now?" he asked worriedly. "Why you gotta jump to conclusions?" Bobby said trying to defend himself. "He's lying at the bottom of the building." Angel informed Jack. "Oh and I guess he just flew there, right Bobby?" Jack replied with a touch of concern in his voice. "Like a rock." Bobby responded with a slight smirk. Angel turned to take the stairs, but Bobby just shook his head and pointed to the elevator. "We've all had enough of the Stairmaster 3000 for one day."

Outside the building, Damian lay in the snow, his leg obviously badly broken. "Call an ambulance!" the kid yelled. "What for my dog bites? Nah, I'm fine." Bobby replied. After being threatened with death, Damian willingly gave a description of the killers. Apparently one had a weird goatee. Bobby, Jack and Angel made their way over to a nearby casino. It was getting dark and Gunner was getting really tired and the pain in her paw was very evident to her right now. "There he is!" Jack said. "Where?" bobby asked. "Right there! The guy with the goatee!" Jack said pointing. "I see him put your hand down Jack." Bobby said quickly, pulling Jack's hand down. It was too late. They had seen them. Gunner jumped up and grabbed the arm of Jack's jacket, pulling him down before a bullet could hit him. It was on. The brothers chased the men through the casino. Jack attempted to shoot the getaway car, but missed. "You go girl!" Bobby said and pulled Jack off in the direction of their car.

The car was sliding all over the street as Bobby desperately tried to keep up with the killers' car. Gunner was thrown against the side of the car as Bobby hit a parked car on a slippery turn. "Gonna get these guys before you kill us?" Jack asked as he too had been thrown around on that turn. "Sit back and put your seatbelt on Jack." Was Bobby's reply. Angel began shooting out the window and got the driver of the car in front. The other car began shooting back and as Angel began to fire back, the tire blew and Angel was almost thrown out the window. Gunner and Jack pulled him back in and Jack pleaded with Bobby to stop the car. "We're gonna ride this out on the rim!" Bobby said, his determination and anger getting the best of him. Bobby rammed the killers' car and eventually flipped it. Bobby, Angel, Jack and Gunner got out of the car. Bobby told Jack to wait there and Gunner decided to stay with him so he wouldn't be alone. She could her punching, yelling and then the sound of gunshots. Gunner saw the look of horror on Jack's face and she took off towards the car. She didn't know what she was running from. She just didn't feel very good about where they were right then.

Bobby drove off towards home, dumped the car, and walked his brothers and Gunner the rest of the way home. Gunner stuck close to Jack, trying to help him through the shock of it all. They all wanted revenge, but wanting and getting were totally different things. Jack understood the seriousness of what had just happened and Gunner was uncomfortable with the close calls the boys had had that day. Both hoped that it was over, but Gunner had a feeling it wasn't even close to being done. Bobby would want to know why his mother was killed and Gunner had a feeling that someone else, besides that actual killers, was behind their mothers' death. She knew that they were in for more danger then they were prepared for.


	14. Pushing It To The Edge?

_It's like 2:18AM, but since I'm up I thought I'd post today's chapter extremely early, so that it's there when you all wake up tomorrow.I saw Four Brothers again, and I loved it! I came home and wrote three more chapters. The third chapter was the last one for my story, but I still need to fill in the chapters between the end of the movie and the last chapter of my story, which I'm having writers block for. I know I want Gunner to meet a nice male dog, but I'm not sure how to introduce the two. Maybe they'll just run into each other, literally. I think typing this into just freed up my writers block! Enjoy this chapter, it's my longest one!_

**Pushing It To The Edge?**

"OW!" Came a howl of pain from the kitchen. Gunner looked up to see Sofi tending to Bobby's arm, which had been injured from the dog attack yesterday. "You're such a wimp!" Sofi replied "I'm not even touching you." She slapped his arm hard, which got another howl of pain out of Bobby. "There, now you have something to cry about!" Bobby was about to hit her, but was quickly stopped by Angel.

Gunner jumped as her shoulder began to burn. She had almost forgotten that Jack was fixing her injuries from the dog fight as well. "Those rotweillers have big teeth!" thought Gunner as she tried to pull away from Jack in pain. "Sorry girl, but it's for your own good." Jack apologized to the dog as he saw her wince in pain. "Look at the bright side, your tougher than Bobby over their." Angel said trying to cheer her up as another moan came from Bobby. "Man." Angel said, "you're barking more than the dog!" "Maybe if your girlfriend wasn't trying to take my arm off, instead of fixing it…" Bobby began but was stopped as a knock sounded at the door. Angel got up and looked through the peep hole. "COPS!" Angel sounded the alarm. "Quick, La Vida Loca, grab something to cover my arm." Bobby whispered. Sofi seemed ticked off, but got her revenge when she brought him her bathrobe.

The cops entered the house giving a questioning look to Bobby at the site of him in women's clothing. "Nice bathrobe…" Green started, not knowing what else to say. "Thanks." Bobby replied coolly, "I had to fight Jackie for it, but it was worth it don't ya think?" Gunner looked up at Jack, who was still looking after her in another room. He just sighed and shook his head at the comment. "It's so your colour anyway!" Jack yelled back attempting to defend himself. Gunner could here the conversation escalating. The cops knew Bobby had something to do with the murders, but no proof and Bobby knew it. He wasn't spilling a word, which was ticking off the other cop, Fowler. Finally, Jack and Gunner decided to go back up their family as they heard Fowler tell Angel he would "bust him in the mouth". Before the cop was able to take a swing Gunner barked angrily standing in between the attacker and Angel. Fowler became even more enraged and kicked her in the stomach, HARD! Gunner whimpered and backed up to be under Jack's protection. Lots of yelling and cursing ensued before Green finally broke things up. "You keep knocking on the Devil's door long enough and someone's gonna answer you!" Were his final words before he and Fowler started heading for the door. "You have anything; you bring it to me and I WILL DEAL WITH IT!" Green stated angrily before finally making his complete exit. Fowler took a shot at Jack before following his partner.

"That was it!" Gunner thought angrily as she watched Jack wince in pain. He had a pretty good sized bruise there already from getting hit at the casino during their chase of the killers. Gunner leapt out of the doggy door, the brothers in hot pursuit, especially Bobby who had seen the unfair punch Fowler had thrown. Gunner jumped up grabbing the pants of the detective and ripping the rear clean off. This revealed his boxers…which were (you won't believe it) neon yellow with pink smiley faces. "I didn't take you for the feminine kinda guy." Angel laughed at Fowler. "Jackie, aren't those the boxers you wanted for Christmas ya little fairy?" asked Bobby, pissing off Fowler, but annoying poor Jack at the same time. "What's wrong with this guy?" thought Gunner staring at the pink and yellow. He just seemed like such a jackass that you never would have expected him to where… that! Oh well, she had always believed he was crazy and this just proved it more. All the brothers and Sofi felt no guilt openly laughing until their sides hurt as Fowler fumbled with his keys, cursing while attempting to get into the car. Green was no help; he was to busy trying to stifle his laughter, and not succeeding very well.

After the car had long since driven off, laughter could still be heard within the Mercer house. Jack sat with Gunner on the couch watching television, while Bobby and Angel thought of what to do next. As Gunner had expected, Bobby thought there was more behind their mother's death and maybe even someone. Jack, who had trouble understanding the idea of their mother being murdered before, was doubly confused by the fact that Bobby thought there was even more behind it. "Why would anyone want to kill the sweetest woman in the world?" Jack asked, not for the first time. "I already told you!" Bobby snapped, "I don't know!" Jack withdrew at the sight of his brother yelling at him. Jack never took yelling to well, but Bobby was on fire right now, taking out all his anger on poor Jack, who had no idea how to respond without drawing even more anger out of Bobby. "Don't yell at him!" Angel quickly jumped to his little brother's defense. "Aw, what's the matter, little fairies can't take it?" Bobby teased, letting his rage completely take over. Bobby was frustrated, why would someone kill his ma, who did it, and where could he find them. Angel and Bobby started a yelling spree. Gunner looked up, concerned what this would do to Jack. He stood there for a while eyes wide, but when he finally couldn't take it anymore he ran up the stairs and slammed the door to his room. Gunner tried chasing after him, but her paw hurt from a few days ago and his legs were pretty long! She was surprised that Jack had grown up to be the tallest one, since she had seen him many times so small and fragile. Just like now. Not able to take the yelling, the pain of memories Gunner had hoped were long forgotten. Memories brought back to the surface. Gunner softly pawed his door. She was surprised he heard it over all the yelling as he opened the door to let her in. She lay on the foot of his bed, losing herself in the music as Jack began to play his guitar. Slowly the yelling slipped away, the pain forgotten, all that existed was the calming sounds being emitted from the guitar, the peaceful essence the music represented, the safe atmosphere Jack so desperately needed and Gunner felt privileged that he let her share this zone with him.

The two slipped so far away they almost didn't hear the doorbell ring. Jack opened the bedroom door and he and Gunner stood starring down the stairs at Bobby, Lt. Fowler and another man at the front door. "I'm here for the dog, said the stranger." "What?" questioned an already angered Bobby. "The dog." The man repeated. "Apparently it attacked someone; we're here to take it away." Jack's eyes flew to Fowler, who had an evil smirk across his face. "May I see the warrant to take the dog?" asked Sofi, coming around the corner. "I don't need a warrant ma'am." Said the man growing angry that this was taking so long, "I just take the dog, while papers are filed and the victim discusses things with the dogs' owner. You don't need a judge for that, especially when it was a cop that was attacked!" "All you need a judge for is for when the dog needs to be put down, which can be arranged later." Fowler added glaring at Bobby. Bobby went to punch Fowler, but Angel quickly grabbed both of his arms, stopping him and whispering in his ear "witnesses man! Witnesses!" Jack's eyes were glazed over with tears, though he wouldn't let them fall. "You can't take her!" he yelled angrily coming down the stairs, Gunner close behind. "There was no blood or anything! She didn't hurt anyone!" "Is this true?" asked the animal control officer. "You know I can only take the dog if skin broke." "Fine, I'll do it myself he said, quickly pushing past Bobby and grabbing Gunner by the scruff of her neck. "Fuck You!" Bobby yelled, but halted in his attack as Fowler pulled out a gun and quickly passed the brothers and began making his way to the patrol car. Gunner squirmed, amazed that his grip was so strong. As he was attempting to open the car door with Gunner and the gun in hand, he loosened his grip, giving Gunner the chance to lunge at him, knocking him off of his feet. Gunner quickly took off, blindly running, terrified to be with that man. He had kicked her, something she hadn't had to go through since her first home. She wasn't going to let this man get hold of her. She wasn't going back to that life of pain and loneliness. "Gunner!" Jack called as Bobby proceeded in giving Fowler a good blow to the face now that the gun had been dropped, but Gunner was already to far away to hear.

"Don't you ever come here again you understand me!" Bobby yelled taking out all his anger on the cop as he prepared to thrust another punch into Fowler's jaw-line. Angel and Jack proceeded to pull him away from the detective before he dug himself into more trouble. Fowler stood up, rubbing his jaw and smirked at the Mercer brothers. "You just better hope you find her before I do." He said aiming his gun at the direction Gunner had gone off in. "Why you!" Bobby yelled trying to struggle free from his brothers as the detective got into his car and drove off. "Bobby come on!" Jack said, sounding worried. "We have to find her!" The brothers jumped into Jack's car and took off down the street, leaving the poor animal control officer standing on the front steps of the Mercer home, open-mouthed wondering what just happened.

The brothers drove in silence, all wondering the same thing. Had they pushed this too far? Were they risking too much, when they had already killed their mothers' murderers? Should they just leave it alone and let the cops take it from here? Was it worth losing more of the Mercer family? The answers would have to wait because right now their main concern was finding their beloved friend.


	15. Danger and Choices

_Hey, I'm posting this one early in the morning again as well. It's 1:33am.I guess I'm just saying the time because I'm overlly tired, have tons of homework, and all I really want to do is work on this story and write more chapters! Ahhh! Well, I hope you all enjoy this chapter.I'm going to bed know. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ..._

**Danger and Choices**

Gunner was hopelessly lost. She had tried to find her way back home again, but she had no sense of direction, which Bobby had pointed out numerous times.

_Flashback: Gunner had taken a walk down the street one morning just to get some air and wound up making a wrong turn. She had decided that the Mercer's had moved the house away. She was a dog; they always found their way home, so the only reasonable explanation was that the house had moved. Gunner began to wander even further away. That house was huge and weighed a lot; it couldn't have gone too far. She wandered the streets until late in the evening. It was beginning to get dark when she heard a familiar voice calling her name. She sped toward the sound and turned a corner running into to a person who grabbed her collar. She was trapped, she thought, squirming to get away. "Hey stupid, it's me!" Gunner turned to find the source of the familiar voice…BOBBY! She was overcome with happiness and was about to leap up to give him a hug, but was met with a cold face. "How can a dog get lost?" Bobby muttered, heading in the opposite direction Gunner had been traveling in. "I bet Lassie was never lost." He said looking over to Gunner, who sunk her head, embarrassed that Bobby was so angry with her. He seemed to realize how hard he was being on her and quickly ruffled her head and continued on his way. Gunner understood he was no longer angry and happily trotted alongside him. When they reached home, Bobby hollered "You can stop crying up there you little fairy, I found her." Jack came out of his room, eyes red from crying and flew down the stairs to wrap his arms around his beloved friend. "Bobby!" Evelyn said, with a slight tone of anger. "I told you we'd continue looking tomorrow! I was up worried sick about you!" But then she stopped and just stared at the picture that was laid out before her. Gunner was just realizing it too. Bobby hadn't come just for her; he had gone looking for Gunner for Jack. Bobby was softly looking at his younger brother embracing his best friend. Through the look in his eyes, Gunner knew that he couldn't stand to see Jack upset and hurt and had disobeyed his mother, the only one he respected, to find Gunner not only for her safety and well-being, but for his brother's happiness._

_End of flashback._

Gunner longed to feel Jack's warm arms around her furry neck. She desperately listened for Bobby's voice, waiting to bump into him, waiting for him to take her home, but no one came, no one called. She walked around the streets of Detroit with her head down. A group of guys began following her, so Gunner picked up the pace. They matched her speed and Gunner grew fearful. She wondered if they might be friendly and help her so she stopped and attempted to approach them, but she soon learned her earlier suspicions of the boys were correct. They grabbed hold of her neck roughly and began tying something to her tail. She tried to escape, but was outnumbered. She soon felt a painful punch in her back as she was released and took off running. Stones were thrown after her as the boys laughed and yelled "Look at her go!" Gunner heard a noisy banging coming from behind her and thought someone was chasing her. She sped up, but so did whatever it was that was right on her heels, literally. She could feel a collision of her hind feet with a solid object every so often, which only pushed her fear further. With each bang she remembered the gunshots of that horrible night, with each bang she felt the painfulness and loneliness of her dear Evelyn's death, with each bang she was reminded of how lonely and scared she felt, but she didn't stop running. Running towards her hope that everything would be okay.

"Where could she be?" asked a nervous Jack from the back seat. "How should I know?" asked Bobby roughly. "Because you're always the one who find her." Answered Jack softly. Bobby suddenly realized how much trust Jack was putting into him to find Gunner and how he had yelled at his younger brother not to long ago. He looked into the rearview mirror and looked at Jack peering into every alleyway from the back seat. "We'll find her." Said Bobby quietly, surprising Angel and Jack with his tone. "Yeah." Angel agreed, "she's got some street smarts. I mean hey, she hung out with us all those years." Jack forced a smile and continued to look out his window.

A half-hour later Jack shouted "THERE!" and eagerly pointed down the street. Bobby looked up to see Gunner running at the speed of light. The German Shepard appeared to be fleeing from something, though Bobby couldn't spot what it was. As the car closed the gap on the dog Angel gasped and pointed to the dog's tail. "Someone's tied a bunch of cans to her!" He shouted angrily. When they had finally reached her, the brothers leapt out of the car. "Gunner!" they all called in together. The dog looked up and her eyes shot open like saucers. She quickly darted to the side, made a u-turn and began racing towards them, her attacker, or so she thought, still on her tail (no pun intended!). She leapt into the protection of Jack's arms as Bobby attacked her assailant. After the cans were untied and Bobby had smashed them to death, they all got back in the car and began the long drive home.

"I swear Gunner, next time we'll find you in Canada!" Bobby said, sounding rather annoyed. Jack just stroked the dogs head as she rested it on the backseat, beginning to drift off to sleep. "What are we gonna do?" asked Jack. "About Fowler?" Bobby replied, "don't worry about him, we'll just keep Gunner hidden whenever he's around." "I mean about…" Jack trailed off. Bobby knew what Jack meant. Were they going to continue pursuing their mother's murder? "The cops already visited us, so we should be okay for now." "We're the Mercer's." Angel replied with a laugh. "We should expect to see them tomorrow. They just can't get enough of us!" "What you gonna do Angel?" Angel didn't respond, he had something on his mind, but wasn't ready to tell his brothers yet. "I guess we'll just keep investigating." Angel finally replied, "but lets keep it low profile Bobby." He pleaded. "How low profile?" Bobby asked. "How about, no holding up a gymnasium full of people, no beating up cops in front of witnesses, and no random car chases through the night time streets of Detroit?" Angel said with a smirk. "No problem!" Bobby replied coolly, "I'll hold up a store full of people, beat up the cops behind closed doors, and perform _planned_ car chases in broad daylight." Angel looked over and rolled his eyes. Gunner looked up at Jack before dosing off to see his worried expression mixed with a hint of laughter at Bobby's response to Angel. Whatever was going to happen, they had made a choice to continue, and they weren't out of danger yet!


	16. Digging Up Dirt

_Hey everyone. The weekend is over so I have to start posting these at normal hours now:) This chapter took some fixing up because I wrote it, then saw the movie a second time, and realized I had screwed up the timeline for what I had written. I guess I should just be thankful I realized that I had to fix it before I posted it.So now I'll stop babbling and let you read. ENJOY! _

**Digging Up Dirt**

The next morning Gunner awoke to the Mercer brothers having a pow wow inside the bathroom. Bobby was using the toilet, Jack was in the shower, and Angel was standing at the door. All Gunner heard was Angel say "This is gonna require a little finesse." And he began to walk away. "What are you talking about?" Bobby questioned, "I wrote the fucking book on finesse! Just hand me some toilet paper. Angel wait! Come back here! Jack grab the toilet paper!" Bobby screamed as Jack finished and stepped out of the shower. It was too late and Gunner could here the click of the door as Angel left. "Fine!" Bobby said angrily. "Come on Jack, I've got something I wanna do anyway! Angel said we should go see that Councilman Douglas guy!"

"Oh No!" thought Gunner "Not more investigating!" She began to recall yesterday after the brothers had found her.

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She was nosing around a stranger's house attempting to find God knows what. Bobby was completely destroying the house looking for anything that it might have that would appeal to his thirst for knowledge. Gunner heard him mention it was the killers' house and she then understood what they were doing. She was shocked as Bobby ripped the mattress of the bed to reveal a layout of guns. He began shoving them into a bag as Jack came in holding a camera. "Let's go!" Bobby said, placing the last gun inside the bag and heading right out the front door.

"Breaking and entering? Does that sound low profile to you?" Angel asked Bobby angrily as he looked at the layout of guns on the kitchen table. "Sorry." Bobby replied non-apologetically, "guess I shoulda had you and Sofi there to see me straight." "What were you doing?" Jerry asked Angel, also not amused by Bobby and Jack's field trip at the killer's house. "Takin' care of business." Angel responded looking at Jerry in a way Gunner had never seen before. He had stayed home after Sofi had thrown a fit and hadn't come with Jack and Bobby to the killer's house. Sofi didn't want Angel to leave because she had prepared dinner and wanted to spend time with him. He pleaded for Bobby to wait, but Bobby only smiled and said "I thought you were a big tough guy, a macho man?" and He, Jack and Gunner had left. Meanwhile, Angel had a conversation with a man who had something to do with Evelyn's insurance. What was Angel hiding? What did he know?

"Look at this!" Jack said, pointing to the camera. All the brothers looked shocked and Bobby said "he told us he only met her once!" Gunner was confused. "Let's go!" Bobby said being followed by Jack. "Coming with us?" questioned Angel to Jerry. "Someone's gotta take care of ya'll clowns. This is Detroit in case ya'll forgot!" Gunner jumped up onto the table and saw a picture of a man she recognized. Evelyn had been spending some time with him lately. Gunner thought he was okay, nothing special, but he treated Evelyn right and that's all that mattered. He took care of Evelyn's "will" whatever that was. "That's probably where the boys know him from." Gunner reasoned. She hadn't been allowed to go with the boys when they had went to see about her will, but she could only assume they'd talk to him. "Gunner! Let's go or we're leaving without you!" Came Bobby's voice from the front hall. She quickly followed them outside.

_Smash!_ "Was that necessary?" Jack asked after Bobby had broken the window. Bobby was about to come at Jack with a nickname when a tiny white dog caught Bobby off guard. "Oh look! A little guard puppy!" Bobby said. "I bet you'd suit living with Jack you little powder puff." He added, as Jack responded by rolling his eyes. The boys looked through the computer in the office, when Gunner heard a woman's voice yelling at the front of the house. "It's your girlfriend!" Bobby said angrily to Angel. "Shut her up!" They all ran outside as the owner of the house pulled up in his car. Gunner went up to great him, but before she could, Bobby began interrogating him. All he found out was that the guy and Evelyn had been seeing each other, Bobby didn't want any details.

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Today, Angel said he wanted Jack and Bobby to go talk to a man, Councilman Douglas, who apparently got involved with Jerry and some business. Angel believed that Jerry got mixed up with some bad people and wanted them to go investigate. Gunner missed Jerry. He wasn't around for much of this whole "tracking the killers thing", but she didn't blame him. He had kids and a family to take care of. Gunner remembered Jerry showing his brothers earlier in the week the building he was going to start his business in. It was a dump, and the brothers all laughed, but Gunner admired him for at least being able to dream.

_Flashback: One day, I'm gonna be my own boss and work in a large building and enjoy it! Jerry said, talking to Gunner secretly behind the house one day. It'll happen! I'll be able to take care of mom and my brothers and you and my wife and kids. Gunner smiled, he was still kind of young to be thinking about this. She loved the way his eyes shone when he talked about a bright future. It's what his mom wanted for all her kids and what Jerry wanted to do for not only himself, but for her._

_End of flashback._

Bobby, Jack and Gunner were left by themselves once again, with Gunner weary of the gas can Jack was carrying as they walked out the door.

In an underground parking lot, Gunner watched as Bobby attempted to pull the information he wanted nicely out of Councilman Douglas, who wasn't really co-operating and pushed past the brothers who only smiled innocently after him. Gunner could smell the gas as the man got into his car. Bobby began pouring the rest of the gas that had not been used up earlier on the inside of the car, before the Councilman had arrived, over the hood and windshield. "All I wanted was a name. I'm gonna turn ya into a fucking gingerbread man now!" Jack lit his cigarette and blew a thick grey smoke into the car as the man rolled down his window. "Sweet, Victor Sweet." He said. Gunner barked, wanting to get out of there. They had what they needed. Jack through his cigarette to the side and some gas on the floor caught fire and the words fuck you so nicely printed in gas by none other than Bobby burned on the ground. "Thanks for your co-operation." Said Bobby, as the three walked away.

"Keep quiet Gunner!" Jack said as Gunner hid at the bowling alley under Jack's coat, which had been thrown on top of her. They snuck her in because they knew if they left her, she might work herself up. "We should have been fucking policemen." She heard one of the brothers laugh as they discussed what happened with the Councilman and what Angel had done while Jack and Bobby were out. He had apparently seen Jerry go to the bank and cash in a lot of money. "Look." Gunner heard Jack say. Bobby and Angel looked up to see Jerry handing a package over to another, larger man. "What was he thinking?" Gunner thought angrily. Bobby jumped up, with Angel and Jack on his heels. Gunner followed, the jacket draped poorly over her back. Bobby was able to take the package away from the larger man, before they were kicked out of the bowling alley. Gunner had been spotted.

Bobby was pissed as they sat outside in the car at Jerry's house. "Let's just go in!" he said frustrated. "His kids are in there man!" Angel responded. Angel called Jerry and told him to meet them in the morning. "He comin'?" asked Bobby. "Ya." Angel replied. They opened the package and found LOTS of money. Gunner knew that it couldn't mean anything good. Jerry was probably in big trouble and Gunner knew that no good could come from taking that much money away from someone and feared that the other larger man from the bowling alley might be after them. Gunner sighed in the back seat. They were going to get buried digging up all this dirt.


	17. Love, Life, Determination

_Well, here's chapter 17! I hope you guys like it. I just want to thank Elven-Princess Ginny for reviweing and giving me feedback. It's greatly appreciated and I hope you enjoy this chapter. It is the ones where the guys in hockey masks come, but I can't tell you what will happen to Gunner:) You'll have to read and find out..._

**Love, Life, Determination**

"Anybody home?" Came a voice from the front hall. Jerry was there. He entered the family room to see Gunner, Jack and Angel sitting on the couch. Angel immediately started the interrogation. "Where's Bobby?" asked Jerry. He turned around as Bobby punched him in the face. "The time for lying is over. You better answer my questions and if I found out you had anything to do with mom's death I'll kill you right here and now brother!" Bobby said. "Bobby no!" Sofi yelled. She left the room as fighting ensued. Jerry defended himself after being accused of needing the insurance money and killing her for it by yelling "I paid all her bills. You weren't around doing nothing! I took care of her and Gunner myself! Where were all you!" Gunner could see the hurt in Jack's eyes at these words and he only grew more agitated with each yell. The doorbell rang and Jack got up to get it. Gunner tried to follow, but was stopped by a flying chair. Now they were throwing furniture, she'd had enough. She tried to break up the fight, not realizing how long Jack was gone for.

"Where's Jack?" Bobby asked all of a sudden. "The door!" thought Gunner and ran towards it just in time to see Jack get shot through the shoulder and fall to his knees. "Jack!" Bobby screamed and shot the attacker, a guy with a ski-mask,with a gun, just as a van loaded with people and guns began their assault. Gunner watched horrified as Jack tried to make it back to the house, but was shot in the leg and fell. "Bobby!" he screamed. Gunner was about to run to him when she was pulled backwards into the house by Bobby. "Bobby!" it came again. Jack's voice was tearing Gunner's heart apart. Each scream pulled her whole body towards him, Bobby still holding her in the house. "I'm coming Jack! Just hold on!" Bobby called desperately trying to reassure his youngest brother. Gunshots rang throughout the house. Bobby shot out the window trying to take guys out, at the same time trying to hold Gunner back. Jack screamed again and Gunner could feel his pain, his loneliness, his fear. Gunner could only imagine how scared he was and grew angry at the attackers, thinking about how they, in fifteen minutes, could possibly rip Gunner's life apart once more. She wouldn't let them. She lost Evelyn, she wouldn't lose Jack. "Gunner!" he screamed. That was it. She broke free and flew out the front door.

Gunner searched quickly for Jack. No one was paying much attention to the dog. Gunner watched in horror as one of the gunmen began to make his way over to the youngest brother and aimed his gun. Without thinking Gunner leapt up and for the first time in her life actually bit someone. The man cried out in pain as Gunner's teeth sank into his arm. He kicked the dog in the ribs, bashed her in the head, but she refused to let go. Then Gunner heard a bang and her left side went cold. She'd been shot. She fell to the ground and looked up as the man once again aimed for Jack. "No!" Gunner thought, trying to get up, but failing each time. BANG! Gunner closed her eyes, afraid to open them, expecting the worst, but when she did; it was the attacker who was down and bleeding. Gunner turned around to see Angel up in the second story of the house with a gun breathing hard. He had saved him. She also spotted Bobby pounding a guys head in, but was more concerned with Jack. His breaths were growing shorter; Gunner crawled over to him with all her strength and lay down near his face licking away his tears. She tried to take away the pain and transfer all the love she had for him over to his heart to give him strength. She needed Bobby. She couldn't fix him. She looked up just in time to see a van almost crush Bobby and Angel, but luckily Jerry's SUV collided with it seconds before more tragedy could befall the Mercer's. The brothersran over to Jack. "Don't die on me you little fairy!" Bobby said, tears in his eyes. Jack seemed to calm down now that his oldest brother was once again looking after him. "Call an ambulance!" Bobby yelled. "I am!" Sofi said dialing her cell phone. They waited for the ambulance, but just as the sirens were within earshot, Jack's body seemed to go still and he closed his eyes. "No!" Gunner thought as Bobby spoke it quietly. "NO!NO!NO!" Gunner's pain was too much to bear. She couldn't lose him! Not Jack! "Please, help me!" Gunner called up to the sky painfully. Bobby approached the van Jerry's SUV hit. "Who sent you?" Bobby asked. "WHO SENT YOU?" he asked again, this time full of anger. "Victor Sweet." Came the reply. Bobby put his gun down. "Thank God!" said the man in the van. "Thank God?" Bobby said raising his gun, "I lost my mother and my brother, thank Victor Sweet!" and with that Bobby shot him.

The ambulance arrived and paramedics raced out of the car. Gunner sat there in the snow, looking at Jack's innocent face, his quiet face. She searched his face for any expression at all. His smile when she did something he was proud of. His laugh when she tickled him. His focus when she listened to him play the guitar. His tears as she comforted him. His excitement when he would tell her secrets. She longed to have him hug her, to talk to her, to tell her everything would be okay, just like the first day she ever lived with the Mercer's. But he lay still, and Gunner feared that nothing might be okay ever again.


	18. Finding Faith and Revenge

_NOBODY PANIC! To **jack's girl** and **Elven-Princess Ginny**,it's going to be okay, I could never let anything too bad happen to Jack, my favourite character in the movie. Thanks for reviewing, I love reading each and every one. Isend my thanks outto **ZoeinGreece** for reviewing the chapter "Summer Fun", I did enjoy writing about Four Brothers in the summer opposed to in the winter.Lastly, I also want to thank all the people who read my story. I really hope everyone's enjoying it!Here's the next chapter:_

**Finding Faith and Revenge**

"He's alive!" one of the paramedics called. "What!" Jerry said in shock. "Breathing shallow, respiration low…" the words rang out of the paramedics mouths, but all Gunner heard was that he was alive! "How could that be!" Bobby asked with disbelief and amazement. "He doesn't seem to be breathing and he's not moving!" "He's unconscious, now let us work!" said one of the paramedics, rushing to try and save Jack's life. "We need to get him to the hospital right away!" the other paramedic called and they began hoisting him into the ambulance. "Notify the hospital that we're coming in with a young male in critical condition." Came another voice as Gunner began to pass out. She was bleeding pretty bad and was winded from running and fighting. As she finally closed her eyes she thanked Evelyn. She knew she had a hand in this. She was always watching out for her boys. Gunner had faith that Evelyn would see them through this as well. Just then Bobby noticed Gunner's blood and her eyes closing. "No!" he screamed and picked her up and began running for Detective Green's car, the officer had just arrived. As Green drove her to the vets, Bobby sat beside him andkept checking into the back seat to make sure she was still alive.

Gunner awoke in the vet's office with a bandage around the upper portion of her body. "Apparently," she heard one of the vets say as they explained her situation to Bobby, "the bullet entered through her shoulder, but because of her muscle mass, the bullet went around and lodged near her abdomen. It was a simple surgery and we successfully removed the bullet. She should be fine and though she'll probably always limp with that left front leg, she should make a full recovery." Bobby carried Gunner out to the car and they made their way to the hospital where Jerry and Angel were waiting with Jack. Gunner was amazed that Bobby was the one to stay with her. She knew how much he cared about his youngest brother, but perhaps that was the reason he stayed: To look after Gunner, who he knew Jack cared about deeply. Not that Bobby didn't care about Gunner as well, but there had always been a special bond there between Jack and the dog, that no one understood, but them of course.

At the hospital, they learned Jack was unconscious and they were unsure when he would wake up, if he would at all. He was in critical condition. "We'll take care of Sweet." Bobby said angrily. "What!" Jerry asked. "He won't stop until we're all dead." Angel agreed. So the boys came up with a plan and Gunner refused to be left out. Limping, she followed the boys out of the hospital. Looking back, wishing she could see Jack eager to follow them.

_Flashback: "Where are you all going?" asked Jack, trying to follow his brothers out of the house. "We need to take care of some business." Answered Bobby, "and no, you can't come, not this time little fairy." Jack looked hurt, but couldn't argue with Bobby because in the end, he did know best. He stayed up all night with Gunner, his arms around her neck, waiting for his brothers to come back, not knowing if they were safe or not. He clung to Gunner, for assurance that everything would be alright and Gunner did the same. They relied on each other, protected each other. That was how it was. _

_End of flashback._

Everything would be alright. It had to be. Gunner wouldn't have it any other way.

_Knock. Knock._ "Evan's here!" Jerry sounded nervous. "Wait for Angel to call!" Bobby responded, looking at his watch. "Send Gunner to stall them!"Gunner expertly put on her cute puppy face and was let out the back door. She made her way to the front and began prancing around Evan, the man from the bowling alley, asking for attention. Evan disstractedly pat her head, but continued to bang on the door. Gunner's side was in pain from her bullet wound, but she knew she had to keep up the show. She leapt up into Evan's arms and demanded his full attetion. Evan laughed nervously and rubbed her head, but after a few seconds, returned to thedoor. "Tough crowd!"Gunner thought annoyed. "What was taking Angel so long!" The phone rang and Angel assured them that Fowler, who they were all worried about coming to the meeting that had been arranged with Sweet, was_under_ control. Or at least he was_under_ a plastic bag suffocating. They had found out he was a dirty cop and when they found out Green had died, they knew it was him who did it. Evelyn had been bothering Victor Sweet who had unlawfully shut down Jerry's aspiring business plans and she had been going to the cops, Fowler, who was no help. They figured out that Fowler had informed Sweet of Miss Evelyn causing trouble and that's why she had been murdered. Jerry grabbed the four hundred thousand dollars from their mother's insurance policy to pay off Sweet, so he'd leave them alone. Evanpadded down Jerry, said goodbye to Gunnerand they left for the meeting place. Gunner stuck with Bobby.

While this was happening Sofi told the cops where Angel was supposedly for fear of him getting hurt. But the brothers knew if they killed Fowler, they'd be in deep trouble. He was a cop. So when the copsshowed up at Fowler's house, Angel convinced Fowler that they were there for him instead of Angel and that Angel was wearing a wire. Fowler managed to get Angel's gun and came out withit to Angel's head, confusing the cops who thought he was the hostage and they shot Fowler. (Bad Guy Gone!)

Gunner followed Bobby to the edge of the lake, where they hopped onto a sled pulled by huskies. Gunner liked being pulled along by other dogs and not having to walk by herself. It was nice! Bobby thanked the guy with the sled and paid him off before heading towards all the parked cars in the middle of the lake. Jerry had just finished telling Victor Sweet that he paid off his thugs with the four houndred thousand instead of giving it to Victor, so that he was all alone out there on the ice. This was it. Bobby and Sweet began fighting. At first Gunner was worried. Bobby almost went down, but she and Jerry caught him and he regained his balance and continued. All at once, it was obvious that Bobby had gained the upper hand and with this lead he began to beat Victor to a pulp."You better pray to God my brother lives!" said Bobby before throwing the final punch. Gunner watched as Sweet was lowered beneath the ice and into the water. It was finally over, he was gone. Gunner limped over to Bobby to congratulate him and gave him a huge lick on the face.

In the police station, Gunner growled angrily at the cops. Sofi and Camille were with her. She could hear the interrogations occurring and knew the brothers were getting hit. Finally, one by one, they emerged. Jerry and Sofi made a big deal over Angel and Jerry, so Gunner went over to Bobby to make a big fuss over him as well. As the brothers laughed at what they had told the cops (that they had been sleeping with their wives), Camille's cell phone rang. "Hello?" She said into it. "Oh my Gosh! Yes, I'm coming and so are his brothers, we'll be right there!" "What!" Asked all the brothers concerned. Camille turned to them with a huge smile on her face. "HE WOKE UP!"

Gunner ran through the hallways of the hospital. For once in her life she felt like she knew where she was going. She let her heart guide her through the maze of rooms, ignoring the pain in her shoulder and body; she just needed to see Jack. She reached his room and jumped up with her front paws on the bed. His eyes were closed. She was confused. They said he was awake. She nuzzled his hand and his eyes slowly opened. As they focused he smiled and whispered "Gunner!" She jumped all the way onto the bed, minding the cords, and licked him all over the face. He painfully lifted his arms and hugged her. She had waited for that hug for so long! She had never felt this happy and relieved since her first day at the Mercer's. Finally he released Gunner and asked "Where's everyone else, huh? Are you the only one who's glad I'm still here?" "There's the roadrunner." Came a voice from the hallway. "I've never seen that dog run so fast in my life, and she's shot!" Bobby entered the room with a grin. Jack all of a sudden remembered she was shot and began checking her over to make sure she was okay. "So what are you waiting for fairy? Get up. We gotta ditch this place." Bobby said, smirking at his brother. "Leave him alone Bobby." Came Jerry's voice from the doorway, "he's shot, he ain't goin' no where." Jack took no offense by Bobby's words though. He knew how much Bobby cared about him. He had seen it in his eyes when he had been shot and he saw it know. "There he is!" came the last voice as Angel came into the room. "Hey white boy finally had to take a bullet!" Angel laughed, giving him a smile. Jack was able to relax with all his brothers around. He listened to them tell him what had happened with Victor Sweet and as the final words were spoken he drifted off to sleep. Safe in the presence of his brothers and Gunner, who he knew would look after him no matter what.


	19. Move Forward, Look Back, Never Stop

_Thanks for reviewing **Aaliyah **Hunter. Nope, the story isn't over yet and there's still action and humour to come. I'm glad you enjoyed the story. I also want to thank **Elven-Princess Ginny** for revieiwng, I'm glad you enjoyed Bobby and Angel's lines and that you're happy Jackand Gunner arealive, I am too! The story might be slow with the plot forawhile, I'm still thinking of where to go with the after-the-movie chapters, butI hope they're enjoyable anyway. I've got some love interests in mind for more than one character! Well, I'll stop babbling on now and let you read the next chapter: _

**Move Forward, Look Back, Never Completely Stop**

"Bobby!" Angel yelled up the stairs. "Bobby! Man where is he, he's gonna be late!" Angel muttered to Sofi who just shrugged her shoulders and said "what do I care where he is? If I never see him again I'll die happy!" "Well we wouldn't want that now would we!" said a voice from behind Sofi. She spun around to meet Bobby's teasing eyes. "Oh, how sweet, you don't want me to die!" Sofi said teasingly, "I'll just live with you _forever_ than." Sofi smirked, stressing the word forever. "Naw, I just meant I didn't want you to be happy." Bobby replied. He could have done better, but he was in a rush to get out the door. "You're gonna be late…" Angel tried to push his brother out the door. "Jackie's been in there for weeks, he can wait another five minutes!" Bobby replied with a slight raise of his tone. Jack was coming home today. Gunner was really excited. It turns out, dogs aren't allowed in hospitals. "They're pretty much not allowed anywhere!" Gunner thought annoyed. The brothers had snuck her in a few times, but mostly she was left at home and had slept alone every night on the foot of Jack's bed. A few times, Bobby had come in and tried to move her, but she refused. Before Bobby could get into an argument with Angel and be even later, Gunner grabbed the bottom of his jeans and began pulling him out the door.

As the engine started, Gunner looked at the house. It was still riddled with bullets. No one had spent much time fixing it because everyone had been spending their time with Jack at the hospital. Gunner stared at the shattered windows and broken bricks and remembered how her life had been shattered when Evelyn died and how broken her heart felt. She was so thankful to God for saving her from going through that pain again with Jack. The drive there was pretty quiet. Gunner looked into Bobby's eyes and saw him deep in thought. Gunner knew he felt guilty about what had happened to Jack. Bobby was the older brother; always the one responsible if anything went wrong. Gunner thought he put too much pressure on himself. Though Gunner still felt responsible too. She wished she could go back in time and answer the door with him. Protect him from that horrible man in the mask. All the brothers were blaming themselves; even Sofi was having a guilt trip. Angel believed he should have remained seated on the couch with Jack, where he first was when everything began. He would have been closer to the door and answered it. He would have had a gun and been alright. Jerry thought that he should have been straight up with his brothers and told them everything. That way no interrogation would have been needed and he, Bobby, or Angel would have answered the door. Sofi felt that she should have called the ambulance sooner. As Gunner watched Bobby relive every moment of the shoot out in his head, she remembered what all the brothers had realized in the family room a few days ago.

_Flashback: "Bobby? You up?" asked Jerry over the phone. "Ya man, Angel too." "I just can't stop thinking about it Bobby. We were right there man. Why'd he answer the door? He knows to always answer it with a gun! Why weren't we there with him? How come we didn't get to him sooner? We left him out there alone for so long!" Jerry spilled his guts to Bobby over the phone. "Come on over little brother. We'll have a sleepover. I'll let you braid my hair and everything." All the brothers had sat there in silence, Gunner on the floor, knowing what this was all about. As they sat there and watched each others guilt, they all came to a realization. What had happened, happened. They couldn't dwell on it. Jack was going to be okay and they needed to focus on that. They couldn't stay in the past; they had to keep moving to the future. They were all there for each other. They would be fine._

_End Flashback._

"STOP!" Gunner barked as Bobby ran a stop sign and almost crashed into the side of another car. Bobby was now fully back to the present and stayed that way through the rest of the drive. "Why did I come again?" thought Gunner, judging Bobby's driving and showing her uneasiness in her face. "I'm not that bad!" Bobby said to her after seeing her claws digging into the seat. "I must have a death wish!" The dog thought as Bobby sped up as the light turned yellow. Finally, they reached the hospital and Gunner leapt from the car, rolling on the ground in joy. "LAND!" she thought happily. "Oh, come on you suck!" Bobby said a bit annoyed, but with a touch of laughter.

"I'm here to pick up my sister." Bobby said to the lady at the front desk. "Long flowing hair, pretty tall, answers to the name Jacklyn?" "I'm sorry; we don't have anybody in the system with the name Jacklyn Mercer." The woman replied. "Bobby!" Gunner barked angrily. "Come on!" Bobby said, "she's gotta be here, I've been visiting the sissy all week!" "Hi Bobby." Said Jack from behind. "See!" Bobby said to the lady, pointing to Jack, "she's right here! What were you talking about!" The lady looked extremely confused and Gunner gave her a sympathetic look. Bobby didn't ever cut anyone any slack. "Ready to go home ya little fairy?" Bobby asked. "Sure." Jack responded. Gunner could tell he was tired and Jack was leaning on the wall for support. His legs still hurt, but there was no way he'd take crutches, not after weeks of teasing from Bobby about laying in the hospital bed for so long like a little girl. The doctors recommended Jack stay another week, but Bobby wouldn't here of it. He was convinced that they would do more harm than good. Gunner remembered all the times Bobby had been in the hospital.

_Flashback: "I'm not going back in there!" Bobby said assertively to Evelyn from the front seat of the car. "They ain't doin' any good! My arm just keeps getting worse!" Bobby complained some more. "Maybe if you'd stop fighting for a week and let the gash heal with the stitches in, it would stop reopening and tearing even more!" Evelyn replied. Bobby didn't have to tell her he was fighting, she just knew. The other brothers were in the backseat, all with smirks on their faces. "What are you ladies laughing at?" He asked angrily, throwing random punches into the backseat and hitting Angel. "Oh man! Quit it!" Gunner smiled to herself in the backseat. She was the babysitter while Evelyn went into the doctor's office with Bobby. She knew Bobby despised the doctor and always preferred to take care of himself. He believed doctors led to cops, and he could rarely stand a cop!_

_End of Flashback._

Gunner and Bobby helped Jack into the car. Gunner waited while Bobby disappeared inside the hospital. He said he forgot something. She looked up at Jack with concerned eyes. "I'm okay." He told her. It wasn't too believable. He looked so weak and tired. She rested her head on his lap and tried to comfort him. She knew his chest and legs were still in pain. He patted her head gratefully. Bobby returned, jumped in the front seat and threw crutches into the back, almost knocking out poor Gunner. "Jack, you idiot! Do you honestly think I'd let you go home and screw up your legs? If they don't heal right, I'll have even more work to do when I start toughening you up again for hockey. You need those things to skate you know! I mean, come on! You could barely make it to the car and your telling me your gonna walk around the house? You think you're a big tough guy now because you took a bullet, well let me tell you something…" Bobby continued on the whole ride home. Jack just listened with his eyes closed and a smile on his face. Bobby could say whatever he wanted. Jack knew how worried Bobby had been and how much he took care of him. He was finally going home. He patted the dog's head in his lap and slowly drifted off to sleep. Gunner was thrilled. She had Jack back. Sure, it was a long road to everything being even close to normal, but when was anything at the Mercer house ever normal? The brothers could keep moving forward now. They could remember back occasionally, no one wanted to forget Evelyn, but Gunner wouldn't let them stop for too long. They all had a job to do. To look after each other, to continue on with their lives, to love each other and Gunner was with them one hundred percent!


	20. Rebuilding Lives

_Oh My Gosh! My reviews doubled overnight! Thanks so much to **ZoeinGreece**! I'm glad you're enjoying the chapters and love reading everything you think. I wasn't planning on having the people who tied cans to Gunner's tail get caught, but you put the idea into my head, so if I can fit it in to the story line I will! I hope you and the rest of the people who read my story enjoy this chapter too:)_

**Rebuilding Lives**

"Kodac moment!" yelled Bobby as he snapped a picture of Gunner and Jack sleeping on the couch. He couldn't make it up the stairs, so Jack had decided the couch would be alright for a few nights. Jack groggily opened his eyes and groaned when he realized that not only was he in pain, but that now Bobby had hard evidence to tease him with. "Doesn't he look cute Angel, all snuggled up with his stuffed animal! Oh wait, that's our guard dog, sorry Froo Froo!" Gunner closed her eyes in a sigh as she remembered the nickname Jerry had dubbed her with on her first day. That was it. Jack was in no position to defend himself and Gunner wouldn't take another minute of being made fun of. She leapt off the couch and began chasing Bobby around it. She was able to grab the camera and now Bobby was chasing her. "Jack!" Bobby yelled in frustration. "You taught her keep away!" Jack laughed from the couch, narrowly avoiding a stray pillow flying through the air. "The man's down!" Jerry called from the front hallway, "leave him alone!" "Thank you Jerry!" Jack replied. "You're gonna milk that gunshot wound for all it's worth, aren't you?" asked Angel from the kitchen. "Only until the house is repaired." Came Jack's reply. Jerry couldn't help but laugh from the doorway.

"Uncle Jack! Uncle Jack!" Came the voices of Jerry's excited kids from the front of the house. They ran in and remembered just in time not to jump on him. "Did you die?" asked Amelia. "No stupid!" replied Daniella. "Daniella!" Jerry said angrily. "What did I tell you and where did you get the idea you could learn such language?" "Uncle Bobby." Daniella answered. "Thanks for ratting me out kid!" Bobby said from around the corner and began to chase the tattle tails. Gunner leapt to their defense, knocking Bobby to the ground. Daniella and Amelia jumped on him and giggled as he lifted them one at a time above his head, threatening to throw them to the ground. "Be careful!" Camille warned from behind her husband, "They're breakable!" "Okay," Bobby said, putting Amelia down, "which one of you girls is gonna help me?" He asked. "Me! Me!" the girls answered excitedly. "Bobby, you're horrible!" Sofi accused walking into the room, "suckering poor children into fixing your house for you! Aren't there like child labour laws or something?" "Why don't you come outside then sweetheart?" he replied, "Oh, that's right, your useless!" "I'm making your dinner Bobby! You better watch what you say!" "NO!" Bobby yelled, "I can't stand no more of your cooking!" With that Sofi walked away in a huff. "Don't worry," Camille said, "I'm helping too!" "Thank God!" Bobby said with relief. "I heard that!" Came Sofi's voice from the kitchen. Gunner watched from the family room as three of the brothers fixed the house and the fourth provided music for their entertainment. It had been so long since Gunner had heard him play. He had fooled around with some music the night of the funeral, but now, he was really playing. All the brothers seemed to enjoy it, even Bobby. They had missed Jack just as much as Gunner and were all relieved that he was there. Now, all the brother's were rebuilding the house together. And together, they were also rebuilding their lives. Jerry was working hard, saving up money to start on his project at the warehouse again. Angel had gotten a job at a nearby liquor store…the one right next to the ladies gym! Bobby had decided to stay in Detroit for awhile, and Jerry got him a job in construction. Gunner thought it was a great job for Bobby. He was already fixing the house, he loved to destroy things, and he was pretty tough to get all the work done. And Jack, Jack was continuing with his music. "He never gives up!" thought Gunner to herself.

Everyone came in for dinner starving. "You're last in line ya fairy!" Bobby said, lightly pushing Jack back. "What did you do today, huh? I worked my ass off out there!" "UhOh!" Daniella and Amelia said together. "You swore!" Daniella said. "And you pushed!" Amelia added. "You owe us fifty cents!" "What?" Bobby asked confused. "Every time Daddy swears he puts twenty-five cents in a jar for us. Pushing is bad too, so that's fifty cents!" "Daniella's good at math." Amelia chimed in. Bobby stood there with a look of shock on his face. Jack turned to them and said, "That rule can't apply to your Uncle Bobby, or he'd be broke in a week!" This sent the girls into a fit of laughter and got Jack a smack in the back of the head. "Yeah, well Uncle Cracker Jack doesn't know what he's talking about! I could go the rest of the night without swearing!" "You're on." Jack replied. "Whatever…" Bobby said annoyed.

The rest of the night was spent trying to get Bobby to swear. Everyone was having a blast, except Bobby. Gunner laughed as he tried to insult people without swearing. Gunner hadn't realized how much Bobby cursed until he actually stopped. Finally, it was Sofi and Jack who got him to slip up. Gunner was not surprised Sofi was involved. "What's wrong Bobby; you seem so angry and depressed?" Sofi asked sweetly. "Sh-" He stopped himself, "Be quiet!" "You know, there's a CD for people like you Bobby, who feel the way you do right now." Jack said with a smirk. "Don't care." Bobby said, trying to remain calm, but not doing a good job. "Come on Jack tell me, I'm intrigued!" Sofi pressed on with the teasing. "Simple Plan," Jack replied, "entitled 'Still not getting any'." The whole room burst into laughter as Bobby began a whole sentence of just curse words, ending with the fact that Jack was a fairy and whipping the nearest pillow at him. Daniella and Amelia looked up and Daniella said, "Uncle Bobby, I think you owe us close to five bucks!" Everyone started laughing again and Gunner smiled to herself, not able to remember the last time they had all laughed so hard and it definitely hadn't been together. Even Bobby was smiling at Daniella's last comment. He seemed to be proud of how much he could swear in a single sentence. Gunner was happy. Finally, life at the Mercer house was starting to restore itself.


	21. Puppy Love

_It's almost midnight! I'm sitting here waiting to post this chapter (I try and post one a day).On Saturdays and Sundays, I try to post them in the wee hours of the morning, not because I have no life...Okay, because I have no life, but also, it saves me from having to go on the computer tomorrow, therefore giving me time to have a life. Oh! My logic astounds me! Oh right, sending out my thankyou's. Thanks to **darkdestiny2000** for reviewing, yourcomments made me laugh with "no pun intended" andI wasthrilledthat you said my story rocks. To everyone else, thnaks again for reading these chapters.I know I've said it a million times before, but you can never give enough thanks.I've finally incorporated a love interest in this chapter for two characters. I hope I do a good job, so let me know what you think. So I hope you all enjoy this chapter (I know I've said that a million times as well, but now it's a million and one), and here it is, at exactly 12:00am!_

**Puppy Love**

"Jack!" Gunner thought as she nudged him. He was sitting on the couch watching television. Gunner was bored and wanted to go for a walk. "Come on!" the dog barked impatiently and this time nudged him with more force. "Shhh! Quiet Gunner. It's getting to the good part." Gunner turned towards the box. She stared at it. She figured it was going to move. All it ever did was sit there and all the boys just loved watching it. The dog believed she was much more interesting than that. She turned back to Jack expectantly with a look on her face that seemed to say "I thought you said this was gonna be good?" Jack laughed and ruffled her fur, but then turned all of his attention back to the show. That was it. Gunner would not be shown up by a wooden box. She crawled behind the television and began pulling at the cord that plugged into the wall. She had seen Evelyn do this numerous times to get the boys' attention.

_Pop._ "YES!" thought Gunner as the cord came out. "Gunner!" Angel said from the chair, "What in the world are you doing!" "Jack did you take Gunner for a walk?" Bobby questioned from the kitchen with a smirk. Jack sighed, "Not yet." Walking Gunner had been dubbed unto Jack. Bobby said it helped him get exercise for his leg and heal the gunshot wounds, but Jack knew it was mostly because Bobby was too lazy to do it himself anyway. There was no arguing with Bobby though. He put so much effort into trying to get people to do things for him, that Jack began to believe that if Bobby did them for himself it would be less work! It also didn't help that he was hung over. Christmas and New Years had just went by and it had been the first time they had all been together for it in awhile. Gunner loved the feeling of waking up on Christmas and spending it with her family. It was how it should be. She had also enjoyed New Years because it involved lots of yelling and best wishes for the new year. Gunner had wished they could all stay together forever. Anyway, New Years also meant lots of drinking, for Bobby anyway, and he was still feeling all the alcohol he had drank, so messing with him probably wasn't in anyone's best interest.

"Let's go!" Gunner whined, and jumped up onto the couch, pawing Jack with her foot. "Okay! Okay!" Jack finally said, "You win!" Gunner excitedly ran to the door, than remembered Jack still had a bit of a limp and went back for him.

As they walked down the street, Gunner felt a sense of pride helping Jack get better. She knew that if he just sat around waiting for his leg to heal it never would. As they neared the park, Jack reached into his pocket for the tennis ball. He looked down at Gunner. "You remember fetch don't ya girl?" "Remember!" She barked excitedly, "How could I forget!" "Don't over do it!" Jack warned her, "You're still healing too." Gunner barley heard him. Her bandages were off and she felt fine! All she wanted to do was run. He threw the ball and Gunner dove after it. She jumped and caught it in mid-air. "Girl got game!" Jack laughed. "Oh yeah!" Gunner thought. She knew she had skill. She then decided to play tug-o-war. After ten minutes, she let Jack win. He had gotten better at these games too. He was able to throw farther than she remembered. As she chased after the ball, she ran right into another dog. She looked up into the eyes of the most handsome dog she'd ever seen. The German Shepard had a smirk on his face. "Nice one." He jabbed. Gunner immediately got over his good looks and decided that she was going all out Mercer on him. "I'm not the one who ran into the speeding path of a ball you klutz!" She blurted out, not caring that she had run into him, and pushing him over. How dare he try and make fun of her. "Oh, okay, so ya wanna play, huh?" The male dog replied, getting up and attempting to tackle her. A Mercer didn't go down easy though and Gunner took him by surprise and ended up knocking him over again. At this, the other dog leapt up, grabbed Gunner's ball and took off in the other direction. By now, Jack was approaching Gunner, but she took off after the other dog. How dare he rob her!

Gunner could hear her name being called, but she wouldn't go back to Jack without first fetching the ball. That was the game, so she figured she wouldn't be in trouble. The thief had run over to a bench, where a pretty young lady, with long brown hair and blond streaks sat reading a magazine. "Tyler!" the woman said as she scolded the dog. "How could you just run off like that? Do I need to get you a leash?" Tyler bowed his head in embarrassment and dropped the ball at her feet. Gunner thought this was kind of cute, but decided she needed to stay focused. She approached the two, and though the woman looked surprised, she did not look afraid. She saw Gunner eyeing the ball and put two and two together. "Tyler! Did you steal too!" Tyler gave her puppy eyes. "Darn it!" Thought Gunner, "Those always worked on humans!"

"Gunner!" Came a voice from behind her. She turned around and saw Jack limping to try and catch her. "Oops." Gunner thought. "Where do you think we are? The Olympics? You can't run any races yet, you just got out of the hospital!" He looked up and saw the girl and immediately his eyes went a bit wider and he seemed at a lost for words. "Is she your dog?" The female asked quietly, also seeming a bit shy about the situation. "Yeah." Jack managed to find his tongue. "Sorry if she bothered you. She doesn't usually run off." "Oh no! It's fine!" The young girl replied. "I think she was playing with Tyler." She said referring to the dog hiding behind her legs. For a big dog who acted tough, he sure was a baby with his owner, thought Gunner. She kind of liked this soft side of him though. "Wait a minute!" Gunner thought. "Playing! We were doing no such thing! I was beating him up for being a jerk." She was trying to inform Jack, but all his attention had gone to the girl. "I'm Elizabeth, by the way." She said, handing Jack the tennis ball. "Thanks. I'm Gunner." "Uhh!" thought Gunner. "I mean I'm Jack. She's Gunner." Jack corrected himself pointing to the dog. "No, you're crazy!" Thought Gunner, "How could he not even remember his own name!" Than Gunner realized it. Jack liked her! She could see it if she looked closer. He was smiling nervously and was fiddling with the tennis ball. Why couldn't she notice it before? She was tackled over and looked up into Tyler's eyes. "What's up good lookin'?" He said. "Jerk." She replied simply. If he tackled her one more time…

"So I guess I'll see you around?" Elizabeth asked, before beginning to pick up her magazine. "Ya, definately." Jack replied. "Do you see what I see?" Tyler asked with a smirk. Even though she hated agreeing with this, animal, she had to nod. "I have an idea!" Tyler said excitedly, his ears perking up (in the most adorable way! Focus Gunner. Focus!). "I'll go home with Jack and you with Elizabeth!" "What will that accomplish?" Gunner asked, not wanting to follow his plan. "They'll have to switch us back sometime and then they'll see each other again!" Tyler said as if it was obvious. "Are you crazy!" Gunner asked, "Like Jack won't realize it's not me." "He will be so love struck he won't realize for at least a block!" Gunner looked over. Jack did seem kind of happy with her and he was laughing. "How long do we keep it up?" Gunner asked giving in. "As long as possible!" the other dog replied with a sense of adventure. Tyler ran up to Jack and he was right. Jack had his eyes fully concentrated on Elizabeth and didn't even notice that it wasn't Gunner. She didn't really feel bad, she was going to have to fool Elizabeth too, and Jack expected her to stay with him. She hoped he wouldn't be mad. She made her way over to Elizabeth and hid behind her legs like she had seen Tyler do. "Goodbye." Elizabeth said before turning away. "Later!" Jack returned the farewell and started to walk off. "Take care of my crib!" Tyler called back jokingly. "Just because I agreed to this plan doesn't mean I'm going to be all nice to you, or that I like you!" Gunner retorted. "Too bad." The male dog responded, "cause I'm kinda falling for you." Gunner watched him walk away stunned. She totally understood why Jack didn't realize she was missing, for at that moment, she barely knew where she was!


	22. Double Trouble

_Hey everybody!I hope you all like Tyler and Elizabeth. I really want Gunner to end up with a nice guy...dog...whatever.I think she deserves it.I also want Jack and Bobby to endup with some people as well. I'm thinking Jack and Elizabeth, it'll help gunner and Tyler see more of each other.Maybe Bobby has already met his love interest.Can you guess who it is?It will be revealed in about two chapters. If you wanna guess I'm all ears.Well, I'll leave you with that sense of mystery, for now, here's the next chapter:_

Oh ya, I forgot a disclaimer in my last chapter. I need to put one in because I brought in new charcters: I don't own any of the charcters except for Gunner,Tyler and Elizabeth

**Double Trouble**

Gunner entered the small house. It was pretty…pretty messy! There were boxes littered everywhere. It looked as if the girl had just moved in. "What do you think Tyler?" Gunner was about to wonder who the girl was talking to when she realized she was still supposed to be acting. "Woof!" Gunner responded, not really knowing what to say. "I dunno…" The girl began, "I know mom told me to be careful who I talk to and keep to myself, but he seemed really nice." Gunner couldn't doubt that. "It also doesn't help how cute he is." Gunner let out a small smile. It was neat to hear secrets she wasn't supposed to know. Things that the dog knew Elizabeth was confiding into Tyler and that were for his ears only. She began to get uneasy. Should she tell the girl who she was? Would Tyler be mad if she did? What did she care! He was a jerk. Gunner couldn't understand why she kept wondering what he thought about her.

"That Gunner is really pretty." Elizabeth began, winking at the dog. "Oh ya. Don't act like I didn't notice you flirting with her. You big softy!" The girl said, rubbing Gunner's head. "FLIRTING! Whatever! He was definitely just annoying." Gunner thought to herself, though she couldn't help but blush. Gunner watched the girl begin to pace and start to unload boxes, but she ended up just scattering objects and making more of a mess. Gunner watched her with concern. Had she gone nuts? Elizabeth looked up and saw the dog's expression. "What?" she asked in defense, "Okay, so I'm a little preoccupied. I've just got someone on my mind." "Someone?" thought Gunner. "Something! I mean something!" Elizabeth tried to correct herself, but Gunner had already heard enough. Elizabeth liked Jack. It was adorable in a way, how she acted like a little girl wondering what he thought of her. Gunner wished she could let the girl know that Jack had taken an instant liking to her. He was able to sense how soft and innocent this girl was and had immediately liked that she had accepted him and ha had felt safe around her. Most people ignored or fought the Mercer's. Gunner decided she liked this girl. Elizabeth had been nice to Jack and somehow the girl could see the innocence behind his tough and rock-looking clothes. The dog knew that there had been an instant connection between the two, just like the one the Mercer's and Gunner had. The dog walked up to reassure the girl and Elizabeth looked into Gunner's comforting eyes and immediately felt better. Then, a look of utter shock appeared on her face. "You're not Tyler!" "UhOh!" Gunner thought. She'd been found out. "Unless your wearing contacts that is." Elizabeth added. That's when Gunner noticed a picture of the dog with one blue eye and one green eye. No wonder Elizabeth had noticed she was different than Tyler! Somehow, Gunner became captured in the other dog's eyes and realized that, like Elizabeth, she had encountered an instant connection at the park that day as well. Gunner's big brown eyes looked up at the girl. She laughed and looked at Gunner's collar, a present from the boys when they were younger. She had been so proud that day.

_Flashback: "Gunner!" Jerry called from the doorway. "Where are you girl? We got a surprise for you!" Gunner raced from the top of the stairs, nearly bowling over Jack who had started to ascend them looking for her. They were late! They were supposed to be home an hour ago. She looked them all over, Bobby shoving her away, searching for injuries, but there wasn't any. They had been late a lot lately. Since it was autumn, she figured they just enjoyed playing in the leaves, but today they had gone too far. Then, Jack covered her eyes. "What are you doing?" Bobby asked. "It's a surprise!" Jack responded excited. Gunner felt Angel's arms around her neck and when her eyes were released she was staring into the mirror in amazement. Around her neck was a dark black collar, with a gold name tag that had on it her address and read the name "Gunner Mercer". "Mercer" thought Gunner with pride. "That's in case you get lost again." Jabbed Bobby. "That took lots of leaf raking, so don't lose it, like your bone!" He added. "What are you talking about Bobby?" Jerry questioned, "WE raked. YOU watched." This earned him a punch in the arm. Gunner didn't know what to do. She had never felt so excited in her life. They had worked hard to get her something. They thought of her as a mercer. "UhOh!" Bobby said, "She's got that look!" Bobby took off and so did the other brothers as Gunner chased them down to pass out "thank you" licks. End of Flashback._

"Well, your address is here." Elizabeth said, grabbing her coat. "Let's see if we can't find Jack for you." Then Gunner realized that the girl had no car and no idea where she was going because she was knew. Gunner did not like this idea at all!

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Tyler looked at the old beaten up house. "This was gonna be fun!" Jack had been silent the whole way home, but Tyler was too excited to care. He loved adventures. "You two are finally back. I started to think I needed to call search and rescue. I mean, with Gunner's sense of direction and your superior choice making skills, I figured you'd be okay, but ya never now." Jack just sighed and sat down on the couch, picking up a pillow and chucking it at the other white male on the couch. "Shut up Bobby." Two other men walked into the room. "You children fighting again." The larger one asked. "My little sister thinks she's tough Jerry. Maybe we should set him straight. What do you think Angel?" Bobby answered. "We can't fight him yet. He's 'recovering'." Angel said in a whiny voice. Jack smiled in victory. "Just wait you little fairy. You're not invincible forever!" Bobby angrily stated. "Yeah Cracker Jack, better watch your back." Jerry laughed. No one was taking notice of the dog investigating every square inch of the house. 'And how's my girl?" Angel asked going over to Tyler. "How insulting!" The dog thought.

"Oh My God! Bobby come quick!" Angel called. "What!" Bobby and the other brothers rushed in. "Something's wrong with Gunner! She's got some strange eye fungus or something! Her eyes are all green and blue and shit! Jack! Where did you take her! She's got that weird foreign dog disease or something!" Angel was yelling pretty loud. "What an idiot." Tyler thought annoyed. "It's not fungus you nimrod! It's my eyes!" Tyler was angered and jerked his head away from the man. "Jack!" Bobby said all of a sudden. "This isn't Gunner is it!" Bobby didn't need an answer. 'I can't believe you misplaced a dog! Not a leash. Not a cookie. Not some fur. But an entire dog?" Jack looked like he couldn't believe what was happening. "My…My mind was elsewhere." "AHA!" Tyler thought. So he did like her. Tyler knew Jack was thinking about his Liz the whole way home, but he didn't know how to get him to say it. Okay, he hadn't said it, but close enough. "The tag says the address and that his name is Tyler." Jerry reasoned. "Another person at the park had a dog named Tyler. They must've switched." Jack answered guiltily. "Well, what are you waiting for?" asked an enraged Bobby. "GO GET OUR DOG!" Jack sighed, took Tyler and headed back out into the cold.

He looked down at the dog who just shrugged. "Gunner would never leave me. This had to be your doing." Jack said accusingly. Tyler jumped up and gave puppy eyes, wanting forgiveness. "That may work when Gunner does it, but those blue/green puppy eyes aren't fooling me." Tyler was upset. It wasn't his entire fault. Gunner had agreed to it too. Jack patted his head. "Don't worry. I'll get you home. I'm not sure what you and Gunner thought you were doing, but let's not have this fiasco happen again." Tyler began happily jogging towards his home, leaving Jack behind. As he waited for him at a corner, Jack laughed as Tyler was able to pick his way through the unfamiliar territory with ease and said, "You're definitely not Gunner!" Jack laughed thinking of his own dogs' not-so-good sense of direction. Tyler smirked too. He knew one thing was for sure, when he and Gunner were together, there was no trouble the two couldn't find! This friendship was going to be fun!


	23. Lost and Found

_Hey everyone.Happy Halloween! BOO! Okay, I guess I'm not very scary. Anyway, I'll keep this intro short and sweet, I gotta start my homework because I've got plansall night and then I'm sleeping over somewhere.Thanx to **darkdestiny2000** for reviewing. Tyler is a German Shepard and I really appreciate your reviews. To you and everyone else, enjoy this chapter and don't eat too much candy tonight:)_

**Lost and Found**

"I think we're lost." Elizabeth sighed to Gunner. "Can you find your way home?" Gunner tilted her head to the side in thought. "Nope. Definitely not." Thought Gunner with a sigh. The girl seemed to read her mind and patted her head. "It's okay girl. We'll just ask for directions." She started to head over to a bunch of people in an alleyway. "What was she thinking?" Gunner thought in alarm! She had no idea who these people even were! Gunner grabbed her pant leg and pulled in the other direction. "Don't worry!" Elizabeth replied cheerily and still continued her march. "Crud!" Gunner thought and followed her.

"Hi!" Elizabeth said with a smile to the three men who stared at her. I was just wondering if you could tell me where I can find…" But she couldn't even finish. She was cut off. "And what are you doing way out here all by yourself?" asked one of them. "Trying to return this dog." She said naively. "Oh, what a good citizen!" Another one teased. Elizabeth was starting to feel the sense of danger Gunner had felt at the beginning and began backing away, but the thugs blocked her exit. "Oh. Don't go leaving us like that." The first one taunted. "We'll help you find this house." Gunner was getting angry. She didn't have time for their games. It was getting late and she wanted to go home. "You will?" asked Elizabeth hopefully. "Of course." Came the reply, "but we want something first." Gunner began wondering if she could take them. "What do you want?" Elizabeth asked. Gunner could sense the fear in her voice and her hackles began to rise. "The third thug pushed her up against a wall and gave her a terrifying smile." "HELP!" She screamed as she finally realized how much danger she was in. That was it, Gunner leapt up at the guys, teeth bared.

Jack rang the doorbell for a third time. "Are you sure this is the right house?" He asked the dog, looking at Tyler's tag. "Of course I'm sure!" Tyler responded annoyed. He knew something was wrong. Elizabeth was always home late at night. She was afraid of the dark for crying out loud. He barked at the door to let her know it was him. "I guess they're not home." Jack said to the dog in defeat. "Maybe they went to my house. Ya know, she realized Gunner wasn't you and tried to bring her back." Tyler believed it's what had happened, but Elizabeth had no sense of direction and from what he had gained from the mercer house, neither did Gunner. He quickly picked up Elizabeth's scent and began tracking her. Jack had no idea where he was going. "Tyler?" Jack questioned, but the dog continued. "Whatever." Jack said. "I can't go home without Gunner anyway, might as well go for a walk." How could he not have realized this dog wasn't Gunner? Jack felt guilty for leaving her and just wanted to find her and make sure she was okay. At this point, he was worried about Elizabeth too. As they rounded a corner a half-hour later, Tyler and Jack heard a scream for help. Tyler realized it was Elizabeth right away and took off, with Jack using all his strength to follow. They came face to face with three thugs, Elizabeth and Gunner fighting them off with all her might.

Gunner had bowled over one of the thugs and was pulling the second one off, when the third thug let out a yelp of pain. Gunner turned to see Tyler ferociously biting into the third guy's leg. As the first guy got up and attempted to hit Elizabeth, he received a blow to the face from Jack. He and Jack traded hits until Gunner had had enough and tackled Jack's attacker. Jack grabbed Elizabeth and the four of them made a run for it. They didn't stop until they had run at least three blocks.

"Are you alright!" A concerned Jack asked the still trembling Elizabeth. She nodded her head, her eyes still full of terror. "What happened?" He asked softly, not wanting to upset her. "I just wanted some help. I was lost and…" she burst into tears as Tyler looked on, trying to comfort her but not succeeding. "Those jerks!" Jack mumbled. Jack looked at the dogs and back to Elizabeth. "Do you really want to go home all by yourself?" he questioned, knowing how afraid she must be. "I've got Tyler." She replied with a sniff. "Why don't you come back to my place? Me and my brothers will look out for you. You can go home when it's light out." She nodded her thanks.

As they walked towards the Mercer house, the full understanding of what had happened hit Elizabeth. She turned around and through her arms around a stunned Jack. "Thank you so much!" Jack smiled and looked into her eyes with reassurance, "No problem, besides, I had help." Jack nodded to the dogs. Elizabeth laughed, "My heroes!" she joked and wrapped her arms around them. Gunner's face was uncomfortably close to Tyler's in the hug and to Gunner's astonishment, he licked her cheek. She backed up in shock, wide-eyed. Jack and Elizabeth burst into laughter. "Thanks." Tyler said sincerely. Gunner just continued to walk towards the house, unsure of how to really handle the situation. Tyler soon jogged up beside her. "Hey, I bet you think you're tough stuff now, Mercer." Gunner turned around to fight back, but was left speechless by his playful eyes and just continued walking. "Weren't too bad yourself." Was all she could think of to say. She turned around to look back at Jack and Elizabeth as Tyler told her of how much trouble Jack had just been in with his brothers. Gunner was barely listening though. She was focusing on the two holding hands. Gunner was happy. She liked Elizabeth and she hoped that she could continue seeing Tyler as well.

As they approached the front steps of the house and turned the door handle, Gunner began to wonder what Bobby's reaction was going to be to all of this. She had a feeling things were going to get interesting!


	24. Meeting His Match

_Hey everyone! Sorry this is posted later than usual, I had to stay after school for my art class. Anyway, I hope everyone had a great halloween. Also, I've had over 1000 hits! It's a celebration! Hooray! Okay, I'm a little overjoyed, but give me a break. I had to wake up at like twenty to seven for school because I had to be in early for art, and as I mentioned before, I also stayed late, so I'm ultra tired! So, I'm going to stop rambling now and let you read the next chapter. Enjoy:)_

**Meeting His Match**

"Who the hell is she!" An angry Bobby asked as soon as the door had swung open. "Bobby, just listen…" Jack began, but had no time to justify anything. Bobby looked down at the two dogs and then back to the girl standing behind Jack. "Oh! Now I get it!" Jack and Elizabeth's cheeks began to tinge red, as Bobby continued. "You mixed up Gunner and that other dog for a girl!" Bobby began laughing as Angel descended down the stairs. "Who's the chick?" Angel asked. "Elizabeth." Responded the girl, finally using her voice. "What are you doing over here so late?" He questioned. "I told her she could sleep here. She kind of got into some trouble with a bunch of guys and doesn't really feel safe alone." Jerry entered the hallway from the family room. "Looks like you got into some trouble yourself." He said, nodding towards Jack's injured eye. "I'm fine." Jack responded. "That is so not fair!" Bobby said angrily. "I was gonna take the first punch once Jackie got better! Those thugs are going down!" "Not tonight Bobby." Jerry replied, "Elizabeth needs some rest and so do I! I don't need to be up all night worrying about you guys." "Fine." Bobby grunted. "By the way," he added to Elizabeth, "you can share Jackie's room. You'll have a blast, painting toenails, doing each other's makeup, reading Teen Magazine, it'll totally be a girl's night!" And with that Bobby walked up the stairs, Jerry left with a sympathetic smile, and Angel went back up to his room to be with Sofi, as he said over his shoulder, "I don't wanna hear girly giggles all night okay!"

Elizabeth was unsure what to think. Jack turned and apologized for his brothers. He also added, "I'll sleep on the couch, don't worry." "OH NO! I couldn't possibly let you do that!" Elizabeth replied with concern. "It's fine, really. I don't mind. Gunner will keep me company, wontcha girl?" Gunner barked happily. Did he really have to ask? Tyler followed Elizabeth and Gunner upstairs as Jack showed her his room and closed the door behind him. Before Gunner went to follow Jack to the family room, she entered Bobby's room and jumped up on the bed. She batted him with her paw angrily. "What!" Came an angry and tired Bobby as he shoved her away. He opened his eyes to see an annoyed Gunner staring back. "I was only joking!" He defended. Gunner just shook her head and jumped off the bed. "Oh. So it's gonna be that way huh?" Bobby said after her. But as Gunner reached the bottom of the stairs, she turned to see Bobby apologizing, without much grace, to Elizabeth. When he saw Gunner on his way back to his room he added, "Happy now Froo Froo." "Why yes actually." Gunner thought to herself and she made her way over to Jack. "Hey girl." He said as she jumped up onto the couch. "I'm sorry. I should have realized you weren't there sooner." Gunner licked his face and he laughed. "I guess I'm forgiven, huh?" There was no need for apologies thought Gunner. She felt horrible for leaving him and was just thankful he wasn't mad. "I know what you were thinking." Jack's voice came through the darkness of the house. She looked up at what she could see of him through the moonlight coming through the window. Jack looked towards the stairs. "Thanks." He said. Gunner smiled and as she drifted off to sleep, she remained unaware of the dog watching her from between the railings.

"Wake up fairy." Bobby said, throwing a pillow at him. Jack woke up, at first unaware of where he was. This wasn't his room. He looked down and saw Gunner, upside down on the floor and laughed as he remembered what happened last night. He sat up and gently nudged Gunner with his foot. She awoke with a splitting headache. She must've fallen off the couch. "Graceful, aren't you?" Tyler commented. "What are you talking about?" Gunner replied. "I saw you hit the ground. I can't believe you. Not even a twitch. You must be able to sleep through anything." Tyler said with a teasing grin. Gunner batted at him with her paw and sighed. She didn't need this first thing in the morning.

"You gotta drop Elizabeth off before twelve." Bobby said to Jack. "Your appointment is at twelve thirty and I can only drive so fast." Gunner laughed at this comment and Jack responded, "What are you talking about. Occasionally you are able to obtain lift off!" A plastic cup was whipped at his head, but Jack dodged it with ease. "Someone's got skill." Elizabeth said, entering the kitchen. "What? That fairy? Naw, she just got lucky." Bobby cut in, ignoring the look Gunner gave him. "It was no use." Thought Gunner. Bobby would always be Bobby. Jack gave up and sat down for breakfast, but Elizabeth had had enough. "Bobby right?" She asked. "Yeah…" Bobby said, not knowing what to expect. "Did it ever occur to you that this name calling could be your subconscious trying to express its innermost desires? Maybe you secretly wish to be a fairy?" Bobby's mouth dropped and Angel just started laughing hysterically. "Oh man!" He was able to choke out through his laughter, "that was awesome." He high fived Elizabeth and Jack smiled up at her. When Bobby had regained his senses he responded with, "Shut up with all this subconscious shit, what the hell do you know!" "Apparently a lot more than you, I passed the third grade." She responded quickly. Angel entered another round of laughter as Bobby grabbed her around the waist and began carrying her out the door. "She's leaving! Now!" Bobby yelled. "Bobby wait…" Jack began. "It's okay Jack. I need to get home anyway." Elizabeth responded, with a smirk on her face. Jack grabbed a clean sweater and pulled it over his head as Tyler and Gunner followed him out the door, Angel still in stitches. Gunner looked over at Tyler, "You seem pretty calm." She said surprised. Most people would've been in shock at the Mercer's behaviour. "Lis has a brother, so she learned how to fight back. I'm used to it. Besides, I spent some time in the Mercer house already, I've seen this." Gunner smiled. She liked how accepting Tyler and Elizabeth were of her family and how well they fit in. She laughed as Bobby chucked the girl into the car and started the engine. "Let's go!" He yelled angrily, with Elizabeth kicking the back of his seat in an annoying little sister kind of way. Gunner laughed as she realized that when it came to verbal arguments, Bobby had met his match.


	25. Bobby's Second Round

_Bonjour. (I thought that was a nice change from 'hi everybody'.) I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter, as I always do. Thanks to **darkdestiny2000** for reviwing chapter 23, Lost and Found. I'm sorry I left you hanging, but I have to have some suspense:) As I metioned before, the chapter where Bobby finds someone he might like is coming up...actually here it is. I hope you all enjoy it. I'm not sure how in depth into the relationship I might go, but for now, here's the next chapter. Enjoy:_

**Bobby's Second Round**

"Do you wanna do something tonight?" Jack asked as he waited for Elizabeth to open the door. "Sure." Elizabeth replied, trying to steady her voice and hide her excitement. "What do you have in mind?" "There's a bar not too far from here. If the doctor says my leg's healed okay, than I can pick you up at around nine? Just got a car." "That'd be great." Elizabeth replied with a huge smile. But then she questioned, "What's wrong with your leg?" "Oh, just some gunshot wounds, nothing big." Gunner rolled her eyes at Jack's reply. Elizabeth responded with "Alright tough guy, but don't be surprised when you realize a girl can beat you up." Jack laughed as Bobby honked the horn of the car. "My ass is freezing in this car ya little fairy, hurry up!" "I'll settle for an arm wrestling match." Elizabeth said as she opened the door, "Loser buys the first beers." "You're on." Jack said as he turned to go to the car. "Oh and bring Gunner." Elizabeth added, "She can keep Tyler company, he gets lonely." "Okay Elizabeth." Jack called almost to the car. "Call me Liz!" She shouted as the he opened the door. "See you later, Liz." Jack jokingly called back. Gunner didn't even bother to say goodbye to Tyler, she just followed Jack into the car. Tyler smirked. 'Playing hard to get huh?" He thought to himself. "That's okay, I like a challenge." With that, he followed Elizabeth inside and watched the car drive away.

In the waiting room, Bobby began questioning Jack. "What do ya mean 'I'll see you later'?" "Forget it." Jack sighed. "No. I want answers! Don't make me get some snow." "Ugh!" Jack thought, remembering his childhood years.

_Flashback: "Tell me who did this to you!" Bobby yelled angrily, investigating Jack's bruises that covered his face, arms and back. "Bobby it's nothing." Jack replied through gritted teeth as Bobby's hand touched a bruise on his arm as he grabbed the young boy to stop him from leaving. Gunner barked. She wanted to know too. "Oh nothing, is that so. So I guess this is just paint then from your art class huh?" Bobby said, gently pressing his finger onto a bruise under Jack's eye. "It doesn't come off, so tell me, what happened?" Jack didn't want to say anything. His brothers could handle themselves and he felt embarrassed that he couldn't. "Jack!" Bobby said, seemingly reading his mind, "You can't take on a bunch of people on by yourself! None of the Mercer's can. That's why we stick together. If some guys ganged up on you, then ya gotta let us know! They can't just get away with it!" Jack was still unsure. He didn't want Bobby to kill anyone in his rage. "Fine." Bobby said, pulling him out the door and grabbing a handful of snow. "Ya don't wanna talk, I'll make you." He plunged the snow down the back of Jack's shirt as Jack let out a yelp of surprise. Bobby began picking up more and more handfuls and eventually Jack spilled the names, not able to take the cold anymore, but also from the pain in his sides from laughing so hard at Bobby's interrogation techniques. He couldn't hurt Jack, that was always understood, but Bobby could always find a way to pull things out of people. Needless to say, not one person named by Jack went uninjured. Jack understood his brothers and Gunner would always stick up for him and defend him and he vowed to do the same. From then on, the Mercer's were known to always stick together and not many people dared to bother with them again._

_End of Flashback._

"Jack Mercer?" Came the voice of the nurse. Bobby and Jack looked up to see the nurse Bobby had bothered when he went to pick up Jack from the hospital and Bobby's attention was taken away from Jack for the moment. "Hey sweet pea, remember me?" Bobby asked, clearly trying to annoy the woman again. "Oh yes." She said with a frown, her memory coming back. Then she seemed to want revenge for before and turned to Jack, "Would you like your father to come in with you?" Jack tried to hide a smirk as Bobby's face turned to shock. For the second time today a girl was getting the better of him. How dare she! He wasn't that old! Gunner sighed and realized that this doctor's visit just got more interesting. As the nurse began to leave them in an office, Bobby spoke up, "It's a shame you're not staying with us…" "You'll survive," She cut in, "Besides, I'll be back after." "I'll be sure to escape before than." Thought Gunner. Before Bobby could say anything else, the doctor came in. "Thanks Kari, come back in five minutes." He said to the nurse. "Ahh. The Mercers." The doctor said, smiling at Jack. He knew them a little to well. "How's your leg and shoulder doing?" He asked Jack.

The appointment went well. The doctor said Jack would make a full recovery and could even start playing hockey again. Before the sentence was even out of the doctors mouth, Bobby gave Jack a congratulatory swipe across the back of the head. The doctor left and said that the nurse would be back within a few minutes to see them out and to give her a file he handed to them when she did. "So," Bobby began, "back to our conversation." "What?" Jack tried to play dumb. "Bobby opened a window and began breaking off an icicle. "They work the same as snow ya little fairy, but they last longer." Bobby said as he finally was able to pull it off. "I'm going to the bar with someone tonight." Jack finally said. "Oh really," Bobby said interested, "and who's the lucky guy?" Jack sighed, "I'm going with Elizabeth." Bobby stopped. "Oh no your not! That girl is trouble!" "Okay, whatever Bobby." Jack said rolling his eyes. "You're more trouble than her and the rest of the Mercer's put together!" "Hey!" Gunner barked. She wasn't that bad. Jack patted her apologetically. "Whatever. If you wanna go on a stupid date with that loser, than fine!" Bobby said angrily. "Shut up!" Jack said in Elizabeth's defense. "At least I have a date Bobby! I don't see you going out with anyone! Who's the fairy now?" Gunner stared in shock and barked, "GO JACK!" "The fairy finally found his backbone huh?" Bobby said with a laugh and then stopped as Kari came back in. Jack left saying, "I'll be in the car."

Bobby handed Kari the folder. "Thanks." She said unappreciatively. "So, Karen…" Bobby began. "Kari." She corrected him. "Keelan, whatever," Bobby continued, "What are you doing tonight?" She looked shock, but stood her ground. "Nothing." Bobby smiled and said, "I've gotta spy on my baby sister tonight. How would you like to come Karissa?" Kari thought about it and replied, "I don't date older men, emphasis on older." She smirked in her small triumph. "Too bad Kameron, I was gonna get the flowers and bow-tie and everything. Oh well. Your loss." He began to walk away. Kari thought for a moment and said, "If you bring the bow-tie, I'm in." "You're on." Bobby replied with a smirk. "I'll meet you at the bar on Farely Avenue at around ten." "Alright." Kari agreed. "Bye Kay!" Bobby said before leaving the room, Gunner following him with a questioning look. Kari sighed, now all she needed was for him to stop changing her name. She didn't know why she said yes, but something in her liked him. She was probably being stupid, but who cared. Now she could prove to her friends that she wasn't completely clueless when it came to guys. On the other hand, with Bobby, she could be proving them right.

As Bobby headed towards the car, he wondered what had gotten into him. Maybe it was just the way she made him laugh every time she tried to make a comeback, but kind of failed miserably. Or maybe it was because he like the way her straight black hair dangled into her blue eyes and hid her thoughts, just like Bobby was always trying to hide himself from other people. Whatever it was, Bobby decided to forget it and got into the car. Gunner stuck her head into the front seat and stared at him. "What took you so long?" Jack questioned from his seat. "Nothing." Bobby replied. Gunner barked and Jack laughed. "Nothing huh? Don't make me get snow." "I'd like to see ya try it Jackie!" Bobby said as he started the engine and drove away. Gunner knew tonight would be interesting between these two dates, not to mention her get-together with Tyler. Gunner sighed "Woohoo." she said sarcastically, but inside, a little piece of her was excited at the prospect of seeing him again.


	26. Blossoming Relationships

_Wasup? (I'm trying new introductions each day now, instead of hi everyone. Not sure how it's gonna go, so I apologize in advance for any annoying greetings at the beginning.) Thanks so much to **ZoeinGreece** for reviewing all those chapters! I'm glad you like that Bobby lost the bet and how Angel thought Gunner had fungus.I agree with youwhen you said youlike Jack in the hero role. He can come save me anytime:)I'm also thrilled that you're enjoying the relationships. I really appreciate all your reviews! I'd also like to thank **BadKarma05**for reviewing. I'm happy you're enjoyingthe flashbacks and that you appreciate me continuing with the story.All the reviewsmean alot to me. So to ZoeinGreece, BadKarma05 andeveryone else who read mychapters, here's the next one. Enjoy:_

**Blossoming Relationships, Rediscovering Old Ones**

Jack's car pulled up in front of Elizabeth's house and he and Gunner exited the vehicle. "Now be good and don't be too rough with Tyler. I know you're tougher than him and he knows it too, but he may still try and act strong." Gunner looked up confused. "Guy dogs act tough to impress the girls." He explained, ringing the doorbell. "They aren't the only ones." Gunner thought, looking at Jack's outfit and grinning. He had on jeans and a leather jacket over a black hoodie with a skull on it. Elizabeth opened the door and Gunner smiled at how pretty the girl looked. She had curled her hair, which fell onto her shoulders, and she was wearing blue eye shadow which matched her jeans. The girl also wore a green shirt with a dog on it that read "Paws off." Gunner laughed and Tyler said, "What are you giggling at. I picked out the shirt and I'm dead serious. Your boy better keep his paws off!" "You don't have to worry about Jack." Gunner reassured him as Jack and Elizabeth began wishing the dogs a fond farewell. The two dogs watched the couple walk down the driveway.

"I like your hair." Jack said. Elizabeth looked up and blushed, then she pointed to Jack's messed up doo and said, "Very stylish." Jack playfully shoved her as he opened the car door for her and the two drove away. "Now, the fun begins!" Tyler said excitedly. "Follow me!" Gunner followed him to the basement and watched as he opened and jumped out the window. She stuck her head out and asked "Are you crazy!" "No. We'll be back before they are. Don't worry." He responded calmly. "How are we gonna get back huh?" Gunner asked worried. "What are you talking about?" Tyler was confused. "Dogs always find their way home. Oh wait. That's right. You get lost all the time." Gunner jumped out the window. "DO NOT!" "Okay," Tyler responded, "Which way to your house?" Gunner went to the front of the house and looked around. She chose a direction and began walking down the street, Tyler close behind. He wasn't complaining, so she decided she had guessed right. "You're going the wrong way ya know." He said as they continued onto the fourth block. "Well why didn't you say something sooner!" Gunner asked frustrated. "Because we aren't going to your house! Come on follow me." He said as he trotted off between houses. Gunner followed him, wondering if Jack was having a better time than she was.

Jack and Liz were sitting at the bar. Jack had won the arm wrestling match, but paid for the drinks anyway. "I went easy on you." Elizabeth reasoned. "Okay, I believe you." Jack said sarcastically. She flicked his ear with her fingers and Jack laughed and backed away. "What?" He asked innocently. Liz was enjoying being with Jack. In the time they'd already spent together she'd learned he played guitar, hung out with his brothers the worst guys to mess with, and had heard lots of his funny stories from the boys' childhood. Jack was enjoying himself as well. Liz had told him how she liked to draw and how she was studying to become a vet. She had also told him about stories from her past, but changed the subject when he asked where her brother was now. All in all, they were having a blast and hadn't even drank that much.

Bobby watched the two laughing, but honestly hadn't had that much time to keep an eye on his brother. He was too busy laughing at Kari's stupid comeback's to all his sarcastic comebacks. "I think you're worse than Jack." He said with a laugh. "I just need more practice." She responded. "So you're up for doing this again." Kari was taken back. She didn't expect a second date out of this. "Sure." She replied with a smile. Why not, she thought to herself. Sure, he still hadn't said her name right once, but she liked his sarcasm and he looked good in the bow-tie. Yes, he had brought the bow-tie, but it was a battle to get him to put it on for all of five seconds. But he had done it. For her. Kari laughed to herself as she watched Bobby glance back over to his brother and the girl he was with. "Wishing you were with her huh?" She asked teasingly. "Yeah." Bobby said absent mindedly, not really listening to the question. When he realized what the question was and remembered his answer, he spun around. "I MEAN NO! I'm just making sure Cracker Jack over there doesn't mess up. I…" He broke off when Kari burst out laughing. She got him. He just smirked and took a sip of his beer.

"It's beautiful." Gunner said as she stared up at the big willow tree sitting on the snowy open space in front of her. "You are." Tyler said. "I mean, it, the tree is." (The guys were having a hard time speaking tonight.) Gunner chuckled and ran underneath it. "I found it one day while wandering around." Tyler said, "It just seems so quiet here, away from all the hustle and bustle of Detroit." Gunner looked up at all the stars twinkling in the sky and all of a sudden felt Tyler lick her cheek. She looked over, and for the first time, she returned it. His eyes grew all happy and it reminded her of the puppy, who must've been a dog by now, that used to live next door to her old house. The one she'd been hit at as a puppy. It suddenly hit her. "Phantom!" she said. "I was wondering when you'd remember me Sly!" He said excitedly. She and the puppy next door had created code names for each other when they would escape their houses to play together. Gunner had always enjoyed the fun, but was always beaten upon her return for running away. "I can't believe it's you! What happened?" The words came out of her excitedly. "My owners left me, abandoned me at that old house. I was saved by the shelter and Liz adopted me off of an internet site on the computer. What happened to you?" Gunner began explaining her past to Tyler. She couldn't believe it! That puppy had been her only friend in a dark time in her life. Gunner always wondered what had happened to him.

They talked late into the night. All of a sudden they realized how late it really was and began running for home, leaving their quiet place and returning to the world. They reached the house just as the car pulled into the driveway. They ducked into the bushes and watched Jack and Liz walk up to the door. "Wait until they go in, then we'll make our way around the back and go through the window." Tyler explained. He had obviously almost been caught before. The dogs watched as the couple reached the porch. Elizabeth turned to Jack and kissed him on the cheek. He returned it with a soft kiss on her lips. Gunner smiled to herself. "That was so cute!" She said turning to Tyler. "Adorable. Can we focus here?" He asked as they opened the door. "Now!" He said as they made their way for the window. "Gunner? Tyler?" Came the voices from the front hall. "Where are you?" The dogs raced up the basement steps and into their owners' arms. "Someone's excited to see me!" Jack said laughing as Gunner leapt up with her front paws in his arms. "I better hear all about that date mister!" She thought sternly, but could only laugh as she turned to watch Tyler smother Liz in kisses. He looked up at Jack as if to say, "HaHa. I kissed her more than you!" Gunner rolled her eyes and found herself wondering how Bobby's date had gone.

Back in the car, Jack said he saw Bobby with that nurse Kari. He turned to Gunner and said "You knew, didn't you! And you didn't tell me!" He pretended to look hurt, but Gunner knew he was joking. She was a dog, how was she supposed to tell him? Now down to business. She turned to Jack and barked, "Tell me everything!" Jack just laughed and kept his mouth shut. "Oh, ya wanna play that way, huh?" Gunner thought and on the way into the house, she grabbed a mouthful of snow, chasing Jack right up the steps with it, Bobby interrogation style.


	27. Little Girls, Big Troubles

_First of all, I'd like to apologize for not updating yesterday. I couldn't get on the site and then I went to the movies (chiken little - hilarious). I hope you were all able to get to read the last chapter from the day before and I hope you all enjoy this one. It's quarter to one in the morning (Saturday morning for me - I'm 45minutes to late to update for yesterday. Tear.) This chapter is pretty much just a fun one that doesn't really further the plot, but I hope you all like it anyway. Here it is:_

**Little Girls, Big Troubles**

Gunner woke up that morning with a yawn. Jack and Liz continued dating, as did Bobby and Kari, though Bobby didn't call it that, and took out anyone who did. Gunner was seeing a lot of Tyler as well, but like Bobby, she refused to admit they were seeing each other. Gunner looked towards the top of the bed. Jack was already up and downstairs. Gunner entered the kitchen to yelling, but of course, what did she expect? "No way Jerry! I'm not babysitting all day!" Bobby said coldly. "Come on Bobby, please! It's only gymnastics. That's one hour!" Jerry pleaded. "NO!" Bobby repeated. "Let Cracker over there do it." He said, pointing to Jack. "He's still recovering." Jerry responded. "It's okay Jerry, I'll go." Jack said. "Besides, they would probably need to watch Bobby, not the other way around." "Oh ya think you can handle 'em do ya!" Bobby challenged. "And I'll do a way better job than you!" Jack added with a smile. "Okay! You're on! Jerry, we're watching the kids!" Bobby announced. Jerry hid his laughter as did Angel as the two brothers realized Jack had just suckered Bobby into helping. Bobby noticed Angel and said, "And what's your lazy ass doing today?" "I gotta work man, like normal people!" Angel retorted. "I work." Responded Bobby in defense. "You never go into work!" Jerry complained. "I do too! When they call me!" Bobby was growing tired of the conversation. "One problem Bobby." Jerry said, "You aren't an on call worker!" "Whatever! Are we going Jackie?" Bobby had had enough. Jack followed his brother out the door, as Jerry got into his car to return to work and Angel left for it.

"Uncle Jack! Uncle Jack! Watch me! Are you watching? Can you see? Uncle Jack! You're not watching! WATCH ME!" Daniella called out as she performed on a pole. "He's watching you dammit!" Bobby responded. Jack shot Bobby a look. "You're doing great Daniella!" He called to the little girl. "Yeah!" Bobby agreed. "Awesome form!" He added as the girl fell from the pole. Jack sighed at Bobby and ran over to the girl to see if she was alright. Gunner went to check as well. "Uncle Jack! Stop! You'll embarrass me!" Daniella resisted his help. Amelia came up to them. "We wouldn't want that in front of Jeff now would we?" Amelia said teasingly. "You weren't supposed to say anything!" Daniella snapped back. "Who's Jeff?" Bobby said invasively. "No one!" Daniella replied. "He's over there." Her sister pointed to a boy sitting on the bleachers. Gunner figured he was probably watching his siblings. "Boys are evil! Stay away from them!" Bobby said with a straight face. Daniella was not amused, "Bye than." She said and walked away. Amelia laughed. "Uncle Jack?" She questioned. "Ya." He responded, trying to keep his eye on Daniella. "Are you coming home with us afterwards?" She asked. "I'm not sure." He responded, still watching Daniella. "You have too!" Amelia begged. "Please Uncle Jack! Please!" She turned to Bobby. "You can go home though." Jack turned to Amelia with a smile on his face. "I'll see what I can do." "Yeah!" The little girl cried. Bobby had an angry frown on his face. "Those girls think they're so smart…" "They're getting the better of you." Jack laughed. Bobby smacked him upside the head. "At least I didn't lose Amelia!" He responded. "What?" Jack questioned. "You're supposed to be watching Daniella and I'm watching Amelia, remember?" Bobby replied. Jack looked up, but Daniella was no where in sight.

"Amelia!" Jack called the little girl over. "Yeah?" She asked. "Where's your sister?" He asked in alarm. "I dunno." The girl looked worried. "Maybe she went over to the trampoline." Bobby, Jack and Amelia began a search, but they couldn't find her anywhere. Gunner began to worry. She tried to sniff the girl out, but there were too many people. "Oh my God! Bobby what are we going to do!" Jack was panicking. "I think the question is what are YOU going to do." Was Bobby's response. "Where's Amelia?" Jack questioned. "Shit." Was the only response Jack got. "Now we've lost both of them!" Gunner thought. Jack was scanning the crowd. He was steps away from using the payphone to call the police when a little hand tugged on his shirt. Jack spun around and Amelia was there looking concerned. "Where were you!" Bobby scolded, "You can't just run off like that!" "I found Daniella." She said quietly. "She won't listen to me. She's really upset, but won't tell me why. She says I can't keep a secret." She led Jack and Bobby over to the ladies washroom. "She's in there." "Don't look at me!" Bobby exclaimed, "Send in Aunt Jackie!" Jack sighed and went in, Gunner close behind.

"Daniella?" He questioned. He found the girl curled up in the corner and walked over. "What's wrong?" Daniella looked up surprised. "You're not supposed to be in here!" She said accusingly between her tears. "This is a special occasion." Jack responded. "What happened?" He questioned the girl again. "It's a secret." She said shyly, wrapping her arms around Gunner. "I'm really good at keeping them." He replied. "Jeff said girls were stupid and than he pushed me!" Daniella said, heartbroken. Jack smiled. "Don't laugh at me!" Daniella said, about to start new tears. "I'm not laughing. Boys think girls are gross for a few more years still Daniella. Don't worry. How could he resist your charm for much longer anyway?" Jack attempted to make the girl feel better. "You think?" Daniella asked. Bobby came up behind Jack, "Sure he might not be able to resist you, but you're going to resist him!" "Uncle Bobby!" Daniella said annoyed. "I'll tell you what." Bobby began, "I'll buy you a…a…" He looked at a poster on the wall. "A FISH!" he exclaimed. Jack saw the fish on the ad and sighed. "How creative." Bobby took up the challenge. "A Fighting Fish!" He exclaimed. The girls looked excited. "Are you sure there's such a thing Bobby?" Jack questioned. "Who cares?" Bobby answered, as the four made they're way out of the washroom.

To Gunner's surprise, there was such a thing as a fighting fish. The girls picked out a blue one and Uncle Jack ended up paying for Bobby's promise. Jerry seemed happy for the girls and looked questioningly at Bobby, who never mentioned losing anyone. "What's its name?" Jerry asked his daughters. "Cujo!" They both responded. "And not after the crazy dog. After the goalie in hockey!" Daniella made sure her dad knew this. "Crazy dog? Hockey Player?" Jerry questioned turning to his older brother who just shrugged. "What?" "Are my girls gonna have nightmares?" Jerry asked. "Probably." Jack responded, with a smack in the head from Bobby. "So girls," Jerry asked, "How was Uncle Bobby as a baby sitter." "Good." They both said, watching their new pet. They were amazed that he was a fish that came to the surface to breathe the air. "No fair, you bribed them with the fish." Jack accused. Jerry turned to Bobby, "Jack has a point. And I don't appreciate you teaching them bribery!" Just than, Amelia dropped the fish food. "Dammit!" She yelled. Jerry turned to Bobby and glared at him. Jack dropped to his knees in laughter and left the room with the girls so that Jerry could yell at Bobby. Gunner left as well. She didn't want to be anywhere near this argument!


	28. Ice Ice Baby!

_Hola! (Trying out a new greeting again:)) I hope everyone enjoyed the last chapter, it was just a fun one:) I like smiley faces:) Anyway, I want to thank my reviewers, **ZoeinGreece** and **Darkdestiny2000**. To **ZoeinGreece, **I think any occasion with Jack is a special one too:).To **Darkdestiny2000**, I'm glad you think the chapters are funny and Ican't waitto writeabout what the kids will be like. (I also can't wait for December 20th! I've started a countdown with my friends at school and on the imbd message boards!) So I just want to say thanx again to my reviewers and to all the people who read my chapters. I really do appreciate and you guys are the reason I keep writing:) So here's the next chapter. This is one of my longer ones,over 2000 words. As you can tell from the title, there's going tobe some ice hockey! Hooray:_

* * *

**Ice Ice Baby!**

"Are you coming Jerry?" Bobby asked from the front steps. Jack and Bobby were going to go back to the house to grab skates and sticks and they would all play some hockey. "I'll meet you there." Jerry responded, a crying Amelia in his arms. "But I was playing with it first!" She sobbed pointing to the toy Daniella hid behind her back. Jerry looked at the brother's helplessly. "Just don't be too long." Bobby replied before completely leaving the porch and heading to his car, Jack right on his heels. Before Gunner left, she quickly grabbed a nearby toy and gave it to the crying child. Amelia was thrilled that the dog had given her a toy and felt extremely special. "Thanks!" Jerry said, sounding relieved. Just then, a crash was heard from the kitchen. "Daniella? What did I tell you to do if you need a glass honey?" Jerry called. "It wasn't me!" Came a voice from the kitchen, "It was the fish! It was thirsty!" Gunner rolled her eyes and chuckled to herself before heading out the door, leaving poor Jerry to wait for Camille to return by himself.

When the car pulled up to the Mercer house, an unknown car was sitting in the driveway. Bobby tensed and reached for a gun in the backseat. Gunner followed Bobby into the house, her whole body coiled and ready to spring into action at any second. Jack was the last one. Angel came around the corner and looked at them like they were nuts. "What the hell are ya'll doin'!" "Who the fuck is here Angel?" Bobby demanded an answer, but before Angel could respond, Gunner was jumped and pushed to the ground.

"Freeze dirt-bag!" Tyler laughed from above her. "Jerk!" Gunner barked and knocked his legs out from underneath him. "What's the matter? You used to love playing cops and robbers?" Tyler questioned, the playful puppy shining in his eyes. "Nothing," Gunner responded, "but you always were a bad cop." Tyler realized that he was down and Gunner had him pinned. "No Fair!" He squirmed on the ground, "The cop always gets the bad guy!" "Ya right!" Gunner laughed, knowing all too well that wasn't the truth!

Elizabeth emerged from around the corner. "Hi Jack. I just thought I'd stop by, but you weren't home, I hope it's okay." "It's fine." Jack began to say, but before he could finish the second word, Bobby cut in. "No, it's not okay! What? You think you can just come in here and poke around when no one's home huh? Bet you're a gold digger! A robber! Well there ain't no money here for ya!" Angel stopped Bobby and sighed, "I was here the entire time, Bobby. I was the one who invited her in." "You did what?" Sofi was now in the room. "Oh, okay Angel. I see how it is. A pretty face walks up to the door and I'm history. No more Angel! Won't play your games anymore!" "For once, I'm with Sofi!" Bobby added and then sarcastically said, "Nice Job!" Angel stared in disbelief at his brother and Sofi and looked to Jack for help. "Guys quit it!" Jack started, "Sofi, she's not here for Angel, and Bobby, stop trying to bug her, it won't work!" Jack knew Bobby was only trying to get on Liz's nerves. The way Bobby saw it, if you couldn't handle the Mercer's, get lost, but Jack thought Bobby was kind of taking it a little too far. Gunner was proud of Liz for being able to take so much shit from Bobby. She was totally proving she could fit in with the Mercer's. "It's okay. He doesn't bother me." Liz told Jack, then she turned to Bobby and grinned, "He just wants you to leave me so he has me all for himself!" Bobby moved away from Angel and went over to Liz. "Jackie here ain't the only one who's leaving! Come on Angel. Hockey. Now. No excuses!" Bobby grabbed his stick and skates and pulled Jack, who had grabbed his, out the door. "Want to come." Bobby stared dumbfounded at Jack's words. "Sure." Elizabeth replied with a precious smile towards Jack. "Fine." Bobby said, "If she wants to die, she can come. I'm not gonna go easy on her!" Jack smiled, "You can borrow my old skates." He told her, running in to get them.

"Oh hooray, hockey." Gunner thought. "What's hockey?" Tyler questioned. She stared at him in disbelief. "Well with the Mercer's it's like fighting, but worse." "How?" Tyler questioned. "More blood, more cursing, more hits, sharp blades of metal, must I got on?" She asked. Tyler looked concerned at Liz. "Does she skate?" asked Gunner. "Yeah." He replied, "but I'm not sure how much cursing she's done" He gave her a smile, "She can take care of herself."

Tyler was right. Liz was pretty good, and learned how to check people pretty fast. It was the Mercer's and Liz vs. a bunch of people from the boys' old high school from years ago. Bobby was making fun of Liz again, saying she played like a girl. Out of no where she came up behind him and smashed him into the boards, laughing as she skated away as fast as she could. "So ya wanna play huh?" He responded. Gunner watched as Bobby tripped Liz and smirked in triumph. Tyler looked horrified, but Gunner was relieved he hadn't checked her. She knew he really wasn't out to hurt her; he just liked pushing people's buttons. Liz was okay and got up laughing. Jack looked concerned, but was reassured by her laughter. The Mercer's pulled an awesome final play. Jerry skated up behind the Mercer net and made it down a ways before his phone started to ring, so he passed to Angel. Angel continued, yelling things at people as he easily pushed them over. He passed between a guys' legs to Bobby, who had to pass to Jack so he could start pounding some guy's face in for a comment he believed was unnecessary. Jack pushed a few people down, but found himself in trouble as he saw a guy out of the corner of his eye skating towards him. Jack had no time to block or pass, so he prepared for impact. Just in time, Liz took the guy out and Jack scored. Everyone was laughing and Jack picked Liz up and spun her around. After the game Jerry, Angel and Bobby took off their equipment, while Jack was teaching Liz how to skate backwards. "It was adorable." Thought Gunner. He was holding both her hands as she tried to move her feet like he explained her too.

Tyler decided he wanted to be on the ice too, against Gunner's warnings. After falling down twenty times, Tyler resigned his idea and attempted to come back. Unfortunately, he was stuck out on the ice. Gunner was in stitches of laughter and finally, Bobby realized what was happening and retrieved Elizabeth's dog. "Are you fairies coming? I gotta get home." Bobby yelled. "Why." Asked Jack as the two came to the edge of the rink. "Goin' out with Kelsey!" He said walking away. "KARI!" Jack yelled after him. "Whatever." Was the only response. How that woman could stand Bobby was beyond Gunner.

On the way home, the song on the radio was "Gold Digger" and Bobby just turned to Liz and gave her a triumphant look, like he was a master-mind for finding the song and being able to relate it to his earlier comments meant to bug her. "Don't worry Bobby, they'll play "I believe in Miracles" soon, that way, you'll feel optimistic about your date." Bobby just laughed as they all stopped at a store to buy some hot chocolate. "You just wish I was going with you." He responded. "Stop it Bobby! Just leave it alone!" Jack said, attempting to defend her. "Cracker Jack's forming a backbone." Angel said to Bobby. "Just hurry up we're all freezing." Jerry cut in. Liz looked up at Jack and smiled, "I don't mind. He doesn't bother me." He put his arm around her shoulders, "Okay." He then added, "I have a surprise for you." Liz looked up, her eyes twinkling. "What." Jack only smiled. Liz begged him to tell. "Come on Jack, you can't do that to me! You can't just tell me about a secret and then say nothing else!" "Just gonna have to wait and see I guess." Jack said, beginning to walk into the store. Liz not far behind, dying to know about whatever Jack was keeping from her.

Bobby stopped outside the store and began to leave the group and head towards a bunch of kids. Gunner was confused and was able to get Angel's attention. She and Angel followed him and Gunner realized that she probably should have gotten Jerry, since Angel was bound to just cause more trouble. "You Chris?" Bobby asked one of them, "Chris Lesser?" "Yeah, what's it to ya?" was the teen's response. Bobby answered with a punch across the face. The boys friends immediately jumped into action, and to Gunner's dismay, but not her disbelief, Angel jumped into the fight too. The others realized what was going on and raced over. Jerry and Jack immediately jumped in to help their brothers. "Why not?" thought Gunner, realizing that these guys had to have done something wrong to her boys or why would they be fighting. She jumped in as well. Tyler, seeing Gunner involved, took no hesitation as well.

Elizabeth stared. One minute, everyone was fine, the next it was an all out war! That was the Mercer's for you. Gunner was about to take down another kid, but stopped mid leap when she realized who they were. She was still and shock and couldn't decide whether to continue or not, when Elizabeth had had enough. "STOP!" she yelled. Everyone looked up. "What's going on?" "To be honest, I don't know." Jack admitted. "Me neither." Angel agreed. "Then why the hell are we fighting!" Jerry questioned annoyed. "Ya! What did we do?" A teen began. Angel looked at him and the kid shrunk away. "You hurt my dog!" Bobby accused. "What?" the brothers said in alarm. They all looked to Gunner. She ducked her head. It was true. They had tied the cans to her tail. "How do you know?" Angel asked. "I've done a little bit of research." Bobby stated. "I guess that explains you not going to work." Jerry reasoned. "Naw, most of the time, I just don't go." Bobby responded. Jerry closed his eyes and sighed in defeat. His brother was hopeless. "Who told you?" The leader of the teens seemed to ask. "Why don't you ask one of your friends?" Bobby responded, walking away. A fight began to ensue within the group as the Mercer's left.

"How'd you really find out?" Jack questioned. He knew all too well that Bobby meant to start a fight between the teens. "A guy I know up by where we found Gunner with the cans told me he'd seen a bunch of kids bothering a dog, but couldn't get outside in time, but that he knew one of the kids' fathers." Bobby said it like it was nothing. "So you didn't talk to his father?" Jerry questioned. "I believe that was more effective." Bobby stated, "Now can we leave, I'm late." Angel quickly went and paid for the hot chocolate and they all got back in the car.

"What those kids do to you?" Tyler asked, concerned. "Don't worry about it." Gunner replied, not wanting to relive it. She looked into the driver's seat at Bobby. He had searched for the people who had hurt her, just like he would have for his own brothers. No matter how tough he acted, he really cared about others on the inside. "Though he does have a very weird way of showing it." Laughed Gunner to herself as the car pulled up the driveway to the Mercer house. Gunner always knew Bobby cared about her, but every time he did something for her, Gunner just felt special. Like she really was a Mercer.


	29. Tag Team Wrestling

_Salutations my friends. (Running out of ideas for intros if you haven't noticed:)) I hope you liked the hockey chapter, I thought Elizabeth should know what it feels like to play hockey, Mercer style!This chapter is another fun one.Just the boys being boys, but I really did enjoy writing it and hope you guys will enjoy reading it.I guess I'll just keep it short and sweet. I don't have alot of homework today, so I plan on sleeping for a long while (not to mention watching Degrassi and Prison Break!). So while I'm snoozing in my time off, here's the next chapter for you all:_

**Tag Team Wrestling**

Elizabeth was walking over to her car when she remembered what Jack said. She turned back and found him right behind her. "What is it?" Liz asked. "What's what?" Jack responded with a smile. "Don't you play games with me Mercer!" Elizabeth tried to sound all tough, "The surprise?" "You'll have to wait until tomorrow." He replied simply. "Why?" Elizabeth was no good at waiting, especially when she didn't know what she was waiting for. Then she added, "What's tomorrow?" "You honestly don't know?" Bobby spoke up, heading for the door to the house. Elizabeth had a confused look on her face and was going frustrated. What did everyone know that she didn't? "I'll give you a hint," Bobby began, "It involves a lot of red…bows and arrows…hearts… guys losing their mind over girls? Oh come on! Do I have to spell it out for you?" "Okay, okay, I get it. Valentine's Day." Elizabeth couldn't believe she forgot, then again, it never had been special to her. None of her boyfriends ever stuck with her until Valentine's Day. Then she began to panic. She hadn't gotten Jack anything. She snapped back to reality as Jack leaned in to kiss her. Bobby just groaned and yelled with his back turned "Get a room you two!" "See you tomorrow." Jack said, as he opened her car door for her and saw her off. Tyler smiled at Gunner, "Ya, see you tomorrow." Gunner was confused, should she get Tyler something? The only thing that ever happened on Valentine's Day is that Angel disappeared with Sofi for a LONG TIME. Gunner felt no need to know what they did. She had a feeling she didn't want to know.

Gunner spent that night wondering what she should give to Tyler. Then it came to her. She rummaged through her box of toys and found one that was pretty new-looking. Tyler always mentioned he never had any toys as a puppy and he had to leave all his one's Liz got him when they left home, though he never mentioned why they left. It was perfect. Gunner loved how it squeaked when she chewed on it. She made her way into Jack's room, relieved that she finally had something to give to Tyler, and found him playing a song she'd never heard before on his guitar. "What do you think?" He asked Gunner. She barked her approval. "It's for Liz." He admitted excitedly. Gunner didn't understand, she thought Jack had gotten something for Liz. Oh well, Gunner liked the song, so she probably would too. "Stop that racket!" Bobby yelled down the hall, "I can't sleep!" "Well at least now we're even," Jack called back, "You're snoring is driving me crazy." Gunner heard feet hit the floor and footsteps quickly coming down the hall. Jack took off his guitar to protect it from any danger it could be in from the following moments and got up to try and reach the door before Bobby. But it was too late, and just as he reached the door, so did his older brother. Jack tried to turn and run, but Bobby tackled him to the floor and pinned him. "You got something to say fairy, say it to my face!" "Bobby!" Jack said as he squirmed to get free, but it was no use, Bobby was used to this. Angel came out of his room at the noise and laughed at his brothers. "Come on Jackie, your bigger than him, you can take him!" Angel encouraged. "Gee thanks Angel!" Jack said annoyed, "Stop cheerleading and help!" He added.

Gunner felt that poor Jack had had enough and tackled Bobby. The eldest brother was caught off guard and stared in shock. "Tag-team wrestling! Angel you in?" Bobby asked his younger brother. "Oh great!" Jack sighed, preparing himself. Angel took Jack and Gunner took Bobby. Jack was fairing better against Angel, but was still losing. Gunner could take Bobby any day of the week. She expertly darted through his legs and jumped up on his back, causing him to fall over. She grabbed his collar and began pulling on him. He put her in a head-lock and attempted to free himself. He took off his shirt and began a tug-o-war with her. Jack was initially still standing up. Angel had him in a headlock, but Jack's arms were wrapped around Angel's stomach. The boys body slammed each other to the ground and as Jack reached up to grab Angel's arms, Angel got up and grabbed him around the waist, lifted him up, spinning the taller boy around. Jack landed on his bed and kicked out with his feet as Angel got closer. "Angel." Bobby called. They slapped hands, meaning a switch in who was fighting who. Gunner happily spun around Angel, doing circles around the large man and making him dizzy. Angel picked up the dog in his arms, "Whatcha gonna do now Froo Froo?" Gunner hated this name, she managed to wriggle free and Angel quickly put her down before he dropped her. She grabbed his pant-leg and began pulling him towards the door. Bobby and Jack were also still going at it. Jack had managed to kick Bobby in the ribs, but Bobby quickly came back and pinned Jack to the ground with Jack's arm behind his back.

Giggling from the door made all four of the wrestlers look up. Sofi and Elizabeth were standing there. "Elizabeth forgot her sweater." Sofi said, trying to hold back her laughter. Liz was trying hard as well, but soon the girls just had to let it out. They collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath. Tyler was rolling over in laughter as well. "You guys look like little kids, ya know that?" Liz added, tears in her eyes. "Truce?" Angel said to Bobby and Jack. "Oh yeah." They both replied, staring at the girls and dog who were still trying to stand back up. Gunner was in on the truce as well, the girls were in trouble. "Wait, Jack stop!" Liz tried to squeal as Jack lifted her over his shoulders. Bobby and Angel went after Sofi, who attempted to kick Bobby in the groin, but luckily for her, missed. Gunner was tackling Tyler, who was desperately trying to justify his laughter while performing his defensive moves. Once Jack dropped Liz on the bed, careful not to hurt her, she asked "Whatcha gonna do Jack? Beat me up?" Liz knew he wouldn't hurt her. "Nope, worse." He said. He quickly began moving his fingers all over her stomach in tickling motions and Liz started laughing again. "No! Please!" She begged, tears of laughter beginning to show in the corners of her eyes. He stopped, with a large grin on his face, "Not so tough now are we?" Liz made an excellent move and grabbed Jack, pulling him down and starting her own retaliation. Jack just laughed and quickly grabbed her hands, stopping her offense.

Angel had Sofi in a bear hug. "That's no way to win!" Bobby complained. "Sorry Bobby, game over." Angel said, heading off down the hall with Sofi. "He likes playing with me better than you." Sofi taunted, acting like a little kid. "No argument there." Bobby replied sarcastically. Jack and Liz got up and made their way down the stairs. She grabbed her sweater and said goodbye to Jack with a quick kiss. "Are you okay driving home this late by yourself?" He questioned. "I'm fine. I know what you're doing. You just want to spend more time with me." She accused. "Guilty as charged." Jack laughed back. Gunner said farewell to Tyler and Liz and she and Jack made their way back up the stairs. "If you touch that guitar again tonight, you won't wake up tomorrow." Bobby threatened as they passed his room. Jack was too tired now any way. He crawled into bed and snuggled under the covers. Gunner jumped up and lay down beside him. She couldn't wait for tomorrow.


	30. Valentine's Day: Jack's Surprise

_How is everyone? I'm super tired. Anyway, the chapter. This one is mainly about Jack and Liz, some guitar playing, some romance. It's Valentine's Day, what'd you expect? Anyway, this is part one of Valentine's Day because I couldn't fit Gunner and Bobby's romances in, so you'll have to wait and see how those events go in the next chapter:) But for now, enjoy:_

**Valentine's Day: Jack's Surprise**

Bobby left early that morning, without a word, but they all knew he was going to see Kari, though he never said her name. Not once yet had he said it. Maybe he just wouldn't admit the name of someone he really cared about who wasn't a Mercer. Jack and Gunner left early as well, off to Liz's house. Angel and Sofi stayed home. No more needs to be said. Jerry and Sofi were going out for dinner, Bobby and Jack had agreed to baby sit. For now, love was in the air…whatever that meant. Gunner just thought it sounded neat.

The car pulled up to the house and Gunner excitedly jumped out, her toy for Tyler in her mouth. Jack rang the bell and Gunner's feet danced in excitement, for some reason, she was really starting to enjoy spending so much time with Tyler. The door opened and Jack and Liz greeted each other while Gunner gave Tyler the toy. He was so excited he began doing laps around the house. When he finally calmed down, they all went into the house.

Jack sat Liz down and pulled out his guitar. When he began playing his song he had written for her, Gunner watched Liz's eyes. They glazed over with tears. Why was she so upset? Gunner was confused, but when Jack had finished, she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. She said that it was the best thing anyone had ever done for her. "Why was she crying then?" Gunner thought. Tyler saw her confused look and questioned her. "Why's she crying?" Gunner asked. "She's not upset! She's happy. Haven't you ever seen anyone cry when they're happy?" Tyler asked. "No." Gunner said, "Wait! Yes." She remembered once when she was younger and so were the Mercer boys.

_Flashback: The boys were dying of laughter at the kitchen table. They hated broccoli and were slipping it under the table to Gunner. As Gunner ate the treats presented to her, she began gagging. She wasn't enjoying it either. The boys were howling at the fact that even a dog wouldn't eat the broccoli. Lots of broccoli jokes ensued and they continued with their laughter. Evelyn's confusion only furthered their insane laughter. She grew even more confused and asked for them to stop fooling around at the kitchen table. But whenever one sibling would look at another and a smile began to form, the laughter only began again. After dinner, the boys continued their laughter and began fighting on the floor. Gunner became involved in this fight and was laughing as well. Jokes and teasing ensued and tears began rolling down the boys' face because it became painful to laugh anymore. Evelyn began crying and everyone ceased their fighting at once. "Sorry mom. We'll be good." Jack tried to calm her. "Oh no Jackie, it's not that. I'm happy. I'm so glad you boys are getting along so well." The boys and Gunner just stood there. Not knowing what to do._

_End Flashback._

"Will you play any song I ask?" Elizabeth questioned a little later. "Maybe." Jack said warily, "it depends." "And you have to promise to sing it to." She added. "Well…" Jack began. "Please Jackie? For me!" Liz gave him puppy eyes. Jack sighed. "Okay." "She learned that trick from the best." Tyler said proudly. Elizabeth smiled in thought. "Sk8ter Boy!" She said finally. "You can't seriously expect me to play that!" Jack asked. "Oh come on! You said you would!" She began to pretend pout. "Fine. Okay. Just don't tell Bobby!" Jack gave in. Liz turned excited. "It'll be fun!" "For which one of us?" Jack asked. "Oh! I have something for you first!" She reached into a backpack and pulled out a gift wrapped up in red paper. "I'm not sure if you'll like it. If you don't, I can take it back…" she began, but was stopped by Jack's smile as he opened the present. "I love it!" He said. "I knew your guitar strap had broken and that Bobby was stealing your guitar picks…" She had gotten him a brand new guitar strap and some new picks with a case. "You didn't have to get me anything." Jack added. "I'm sorry I didn't buy you anything." He added, kind of fidgeting. "Oh No! I love the song! It's better than any present!" She spoke quickly and Jack laughed, "Well, now I have to play the song!" He grabbed his guitar, took a deep breath and prepared to embarrass himself. He started the song:

_He was a boy, she was a girl  
Can I make it anymore obvious?  
He was a punk, she did ballet  
What more can I say?  
He wanted her, she'd never tell  
Secretly she wanted him as well  
But all of her friends, stuck up their nose  
They had a problem with his baggy clothes... _

He was a sk8er boy  
She said "See'ya later boy"  
He wasn't good enough for her  
She had a pretty face  
But her head was up in space  
She needed to come back down to earth

Five years from now, she sits at home  
Feeding the baby, she's all alone  
She turns on T.V., guess who she sees  
Sk8er boy rocking up MTV  
She calls her friends, they already know  
And they've all got tickets to see his show  
She tags along, stands in the crowd  
Looks up at the man that she turned down

He was a sk8ter boy  
She said "See'ya later boy"  
He wasn't good enough for her  
Now he's a superstar  
Slammin' on his guitar  
Does your pretty face see what he's worth?

As Jack started the next part, Liz could no longer contain her laughter:

_Sorry girl, but you missed out  
Well tough luck that boy's mine now  
We are more than just good friends  
This is how the story ends  
_Jack started to laugh now too, but continued:

_Too bad that you couldn't see  
See the man that boy could be  
There is more than meets the eye  
I see the soul that is inside _

Liz cut in now and began singing instead:

_He's just a boy and I'm just a girl  
Can I make it anymore obvious  
We are in love, haven't you heard  
How we rock each others world! _

I'm with the skater boy  
I said "See'ya later boy  
I'll be backstage after the show  
I'll be at the studio  
Singing the song we wrote  
About a girl you used to know."

I'm with the skater boy  
I said "See ya' later boy  
I'll be backstage after the show  
I'll be at the studio  
Singing the song we wrote  
About a girl you used to knowwwwwwwwwwwwwwww."

The song finished with Jack and Liz trying not to cry because their sides hurt from laughing. "You're good." Jack said, referring to her singing. "Next thing ya know I'll be a rock star!" Liz joked. "Wanna learn how to play?" Jack asked. "Oh, I don't know…" Liz started. "Come on!" Jack said, "I had to sing sk8ter boy!" "I'll try." Liz agreed. Jack began showing her where to place her fingers, when Tyler grabbed Gunner. "Come On! I've got a surprise for you too." The two dogs quickly slipped out the window, with Jack and Liz too absorbed in each other to notice.


	31. A Special Tree Bobby's Date

_I'm so happy today:) I rocked my English presentation! Oh ya! (and my painting of a parrot isn't too shabby either!) Anyway. I hope you all liked the last chapter. Thanks to **ZoeinGreece** for reviewing:) I'm glad you liked that Bobby got Gunner revenge. Also,I agree with you, I love it when Jack sings as well. Your reviews always make my days better:) Well, here's the next chapter. It's one of my more shorter ones, but both relationships that I didn't get to in the last chapter are in this one. So thanks to everyone who reads my chapters and those who review (I appreciate it more than you could imagine) and I hope you all enjoy part two of Valentine's Day:_

**A Special Tree/ Bobby's Date**

Gunner and Tyler walked along the sidewalk. Tyler told her they were going back to the tree he had shown her a while ago. Gunner was walking along absentmindedly and didn't realize that she was ahead of Tyler. When she finally noticed, he had stopped to stare at her. "What?" she asked defensively. "You know where you're going!" He exclaimed. "I do!' Gunner was excited. Normally, she was lost…all the time. It sometimes even occurred in her house.

_Flashback: Gunner was hanging out in the family room and decided she wanted to help Evelyn and Jack out in the kitchen. As she walked into the room, she forget they had re-arranged the furniture in there and panicked for a second, unsure where she was. She ended up running into a chair and smacking her head. Although Jack was concerned, Bobby made her feel stupid. "Even lost in her own house." He sighed, walking by her. "Don't worry Gunner." Jack comforted her. "Yeah Gunner." Jerry added, "We're all forgetting the time Bobby walked into the screen door! Man that was hilarious!" All the brothers and even Evelyn smiled at the memory of Bobby smacking his head straight into the door at full speed. Boy, had he been mad. Bobby immediately chucked the nearest item at Jerry's head. Unfortunately, the plastic cup he had grabbed missed Jerry's head and smashed into the vase sitting behind him._

_End of Flashback._

When the dog's reached the tree, Tyler said he had something for her. He approached the tree and rubbed some of the snow off with his paw. Under it was a heart engraved into the tree. Tyler must've spent hours out here digging into the tree with his paws. For her. Gunner couldn't believe it. Now she understood why Liz was so happy about her present. It wasn't material objects that counted, but the love behind the action or object given to someone. Then Gunner realized why Liz had begun crying, for she started to tear up as well. At that moment, she couldn't believe how much she cared for him.

Bobby was enjoying his Valentine's Day too. He had showed up at Kari's house with flowers, which astonished Kari. She handed him chocolates, with no nuts. She had called up Angel and asked him what kind of chocolate Bobby liked and she was so happy she was able to surprise Bobby by showing him she knew something about him. Bobby kind of felt uncomfortable that someone had actually made that much of an effort, just over some chocolates. But he appreciated it anyway. They spent the day at the ice rink. Even though he had let Kari decide, she had also asked Angel what Bobby liked to do. So skating it was.

Bobby soon realized that she had no idea how to skate and was attempting to teach her, but was focusing more on the checking aspect of it all. At one point she fell right on top of each other and Bobby was left staring up into her eyes for a few minutes before he realized she was stuck and couldn't get up. She laughed nervously, but Bobby, ever sarcastic, just said, "Watch where you're going Kay-Ann!" "You know Bobby, there are only so many names that start with K, and eventually, you're going to have to say my name!" Kari said, getting tired of the whole thing with her name. He hadn't said it once yet! "That's okay; I'll just start all over again." Bobby responded skating away. He left Kari to fend for herself for awhile before coming back and helping her off her butt.

On her doorstep, she asked if he'd like to come in. "Can't, I'm babysitting." He said. "Oh." Kari responded, obviously thinking he was lying to her. "No! I'm serious! I have to watch Jerry's kids. Jack's coming too…" Bobby stopped as she laughed at him. "It's okay. I believe you. Happy Valentine's Day Bobby." She said walking into her house. "Happy Valentine's Day Kari." He responded and walked to his car without looking back. Kari's eyes glimmered. He had finally said her name. That was the best Valentine's Day present she could ever ask for. He had finally accepted her.

Gunner and Tyler were playing with the squeaky toy, when Gunner noticed where the sun was in the sky. "I gotta go. I'm babysitting tonight." "Do you have too?" Tyler whined. "Yes, silly. The girls can't watch themselves!" She said as she pushed Tyler over. "What are you talking about; Jack and Bobby will watch them." Tyler reasoned. "Jack and Bobby were who I was referring too!" Gunner said with a laugh. Tyler laughed as well and the two began heading towards Tyler's house.

They made it back just in time. Jack was just saying goodbye to Liz. The dogs waited around the corner while Jack kissed Liz goodbye. Tyler licked Gunner's cheek just before she emerged from her hiding place. As the car drove away, Gunner couldn't believe how well the day had gone.


	32. Babysitting Chaos

_It's the most wonderful time of the year! Okay, I just felt like singing:) But Christmas is next month! Is that not exciting! No school for two weeks! Well, while we're all waiting for the future, here's the next chapter. Lots of Daniella and Amelia, those girls are adorable! Enjoy:_

**Babysitting Chaos**

Jack and Bobby actually arrived early. Okay, they were late, but Jerry and Camille were running late and weren't ready to leave, so Bobby classified it as being technically early. As Camille and Jerry got their coats and shoes on Bobby whistled at Camille, "Now I see why ya married her Jerry!" He added. Jerry shot him a warning look. Camille just laughed and said to her daughters, "Now watch your uncle, and make sure he doesn't ruin my house!" "Okay mommy, we will." The girls responded happily. Their little white dog was running around the house barking like a maniac. The puppy didn't want to be left out of the goodbyes and felt this was the best way to get attention. As it made its fifth lap around the house and began to near Gunner, she clonked it over the head. It stopped dead and Bobby started laughing. "I wonder where she got that from?" Jerry asked sarcastically, throwing Bobby a look. "What?" Bobby said innocently. "Just don't teach any of that to my kids!" Jerry warned. He turned to Jack, "If Bobby gets into any 'incidents', the emergency phone list is by the fridge. Oh and the fire-extinguisher is up in the linen closet." "What incidents?" Bobby questioned. "Remember when your arm got stuck in the window?" Jerry asked. "What window?" Daniella asked. "Now that's a bedtime story." Bobby told her. "NO!" Jerry said sternly. "I'll read them a story." Jack assured his older brother. Gunner chuckled to herself remembering the story well.

_Flashback: "That's it Angel. I'm taking you down!" Bobby yelled from across the room. He ran towards his brother and moved in to punch him. Angel ducked and Bobby's fist went right through the window. His brothers and Gunner stared in shock. Bobby was about to pull back, but Jack and Jerry stopped him. "You'll do more damage!" Jerry reasoned. Jerry and Jack forced Bobby to stay still while Angel called the fire department. When Evelyn got home, she found police and fireman all over her front lawn removing a window off her house. To her horror she saw Bobby's blood all over it. She fussed over Bobby the whole way to the hospital, making sure his every need was attended to. But after she was assured he would live, Bobby got a huge lecture from his mother. He never tried punching near a window again._

_End Flashback_

All the other brothers must have been reminiscing as well because Jerry added before he left, "Bobby, all of your decision making privileges have been revoked for the rest of the night."

The night was utter chaos. Daniella and Amelia had a food fight during dinner, nailing Uncle Jack right in the forehead. Uncle Bobby was supposed to wait outside the bathroom door while the two had a bath and Uncle Jack washed the potatoes out of his hair in the kitchen, but Uncle Bobby also let them fill the tub up with as much bubble bath as they wanted. This left the girls with no bath and Uncle Jack cleaning the bathroom for forty-five minutes. Gunner laughed at the sight of Jack trying to subdue all the bubbles, but Jack saw this and Gunner ended up with all suds in her fur. Well at least now she didn't need a bath.

Jack and Gunner went down the stairs and saw Bobby in front of the television. "Where are the girls?" Jack asked. "Over there." He pointed to their playroom beside him. "They aren't there." Jack said when he came back. "I think they wanted to play hide and seek." Bobby suddenly remembered. Jack sighed as he, Bobby and Gunner began the search. Jack found Amelia under her bed. She ended up crying out for him because she was afraid the monster that lived under there was going to eat her. Jack turned to Bobby. "Hey!" He started in his defense, "I told them that story like one time! Who knew they'd always remember it?" Gunner and Bobby found Daniella playing in her mother's room. Her face covered in make-up. Bobby laughed, and instead of cleaning it, he just added more. Gunner pawed at him, frustrated. He wasn't much help. Finally, Bobby washed her face and brought her downstairs. Jack let them pick a book and he read to them, while Bobby sarcastically provided sound effects. The girls fell asleep curled up between their uncles, Amelia's hands wrapped around Gunner. "Where's the dog?" Bobby asked suddenly. He had realized that the house was way too quiet. Jack stayed with the girls, while Bobby went to look for the dog. He found it in the kitchen. Its head was stuck in between the bottom rungs of the chair. Bobby broke into laughter and Gunner tried her best not too, feeling bad for the little dog. Bobby had to use a saw to cut the dog out. Jack came into the room, "If your so god with tools, why don't you ever go to work?" "Shut up." Bobby said. Daniella walked into the room. "Uncle Bobby! What did you do?" "It wasn't me! It did it itself!" Daniella wasn't sure if she believed him, but was grateful he was getting her dog out. Gunner was afraid Bobby would start cutting the dog, as it started to squirm, but Bobby was careful and soon it was free. They all returned to the couch and Jack and Bobby decided not to move the girls in case they would wake up again.

Jerry and Camille got home to find two men, two dogs, and two little girls asleep on the couch. Jerry grabbed the camera and snapped a picture as Bobby came too. He saw Jerry and the camera and got up, chasing his younger brother. Jack woke up too and said hi to Camille. "How were they?" Camille asked. Jack thought about everything that had happened, and then looked down at the two sleeping kids, "Great." He replied. Bobby stopped in his tracks and looked at Jack. Amelia began talking in her sleep. "But I wanna ride the pony first…" "Shut up!" Daniella replied, "There is no pony stupid!" Jerry turned to Bobby. "What did I say? Don't teach them anything!" Bobby shrugged and added, "I also sawed up the chair in the kitchen." Jerry grabbed Bobby into a headlock and the two began fighting like back in their childhood. Camille only laughed and Jack helped her carry the girls to bed. Finally, they also broke Bobby and Jerry apart. Gunner groggily got off the couch and received thank you pats from Camille and Jerry, before following Jack and Bobby out the door.


	33. Elizabeth's Secret

_Sorry, this is later than I usually put up a chapter, but I had to stay after school to paint:) I hope you all liked the last chapter. I want to thank my two reviewers from the last chapter, **Typokid** and** Darkdestiny2000**. To **Typokid**, I'm glad you like my story and that you think Gunner is sweet.I appreciate your review. To **Darkdestiny2000**, I'm delighted youthought the chapters weregreat and that you like my story.I always enjoy hearing from you. To you two and everyone elsewho reads my stories,I want to say thnaks. Anyway, here's the next chapter. We get to learn more about why Elizabeth is actually in Detroit. Enjoy:_

**Elizabeth's Secret**

Gunner looked out the window and into the rain. It had been raining for a full week and Gunner was tired of it. It was spring and that meant lots of rain, but come on! It was April 29th, yesterday had been her birthday. The Mercer boys had just decided it one day because they didn't know her real one.

_Flashback: Jack was looking at Gunner thoughtfully. "What you thinking about?" Angel questioned. "Well, I was just thinking, gunner doesn't have a birthday." "You're right." Angel agreed. "What should we do?" he questioned. "Let's make it Friday!" Jack said. "We could have a birthday party for her!" Angel began to get excited. Mercer parties were always fun and always involved hockey and/or wrestling. That Friday, all the brothers tried to make Gunner a cake. 'Tried' being the operative word. It was mostly icing, but hey, it's the thought that counts. They also all chipped in to get her a birthday present; the high-priced dog treats. That day, April 28th, became Gunner's birthday and like all the other birthdays in the house, it was never forgotten._

_End Flashback._

They had celebrated yesterday too. Everyone went out to play hockey and Gunner had gotten some new bones.

Gunner suddenly saw Tyler and Liz's car pulling up into the driveway. They were driving pretty fast for it raining. She ran to the door and began barking, letting everyone know someone was coming. Bobby opened the door and when he caught the terrified and tear-streaked face of Elizabeth, he immediately called up the stairs for Jack. Gunner looked to Tyler for an explanation, but his full attention was on Liz. When she had finally sat down in the comfort of Jack's arms, Tyler spoke to Gunner.

"What happened?" Asked Gunner. "I'm not sure." Tyler responded. "Some guys broke into our house. I tried to stop them, but they had guns, so Liz held me back. They threatened her with her brother and said something about money…" "Whoa! Whoa! Slow down. What are you talking about?" Gunner was confused. "Let Liz tell it." Tyler responded.

When the girl had finally calmed down, she began trying to explain what happened. The only words Gunner was able to hear from the fast talking girl were "guns", "drugs", "money", "Friday" and "brother". Now Gunner was even more confused. "Slow down." Jack replied calmly. "Say everything real slow so we can understand." Liz took a deep breath. "I left home because my brother was in trouble. He had gotten involved with some people who delivered drugs and started being a delivery boy for them. He got beat up one day after a delivery and they stole the cash he was supposed to give to the main guy. Anthony something or other. He didn't have enough money to pay them back, and though he was trying, he wasn't sure if he was going to make his deadline. He told me to leave town for my safety. I refused, so he disappeared. My house was broken into while I wasn't there, so I decided to leave. They found me though. They say my brother, Michael, wasn't able to get the money in time, and that if I don't, he's dead. But they want interest now. With my house and current job, waiting tables, I'm not gonna be able to come up with that much money by next Friday, the deadline. He's going to die and it's my entire fault!" She began crying again. Jack hugged her, "It's not your fault!" "Cracker's right." Angel agreed, "It's not your mess." Jerry came through the door and Bobby explained the situation to him.

"Is there any way to come up with the money?" Jerry questioned. "I don't think so. The price is pretty high." Bobby answered. "So we're doing this Mercer style?" Angel asked his older brothers. "What? No!" Liz said panicked. "I won't drag you into this! I just needed to talk to someone, let it all out! I don't want you to do anything. I'll go to the cops." "If you do he's dead." Bobby said. "We'd do this for family. Jackie's family and you're with Jackie, so you're family. There's nothing you can do about it." Liz stared at Bobby, thinking about his words. "You aren't going though this alone." Jack said, "That's not how it works with the Mercer's."

Gunner jumped up on the couch she was sitting on and licked Elizabeth's face. The brother's were right; Elizabeth had all of them behind her. Liz affectionately patted Gunner and then Tyler so he wouldn't feel left out. "I guess you two are in this as well?" She questioned. "Duh!" Gunner and Tyler barked together.

"Let's first start by figuring out who this guy "Anthony" is." Bobby began. "He's not a very big organization." Liz said, "He's just got a few close friends, a few muscular close friends with guns. If they're here threatening me, then Anthony is too." Liz reasoned. "He always thought he was a big shot because he provided drugs for people, but the only people he supplied were the youth of our town. But that's enough to get anyone into trouble. Teens just don't have that much money, and the transporters of the money and drugs, like my bro, are the ones who end up getting hurt." Liz looked worried. "Don't worry." Angel said. "If he's in Detroit, we'll find him. We've take care of bigger fish, this guy's a minnow compared to them." "A minnow with a gun!" Liz responded. All the Mercers knew that they were getting into trouble, and even though this guy wasn't as big as Victor Sweet had been, they still knew that this was going to be dangerous. Bobby looked at Jack and wondered how far he would take his brother this time. Gunner was wondering the exact same thing. Only time would tell.


	34. Formulating A Plan

_Good morning! Oh wait, it's the afternoon, I got to start getting up earlier. Anyway, I hope you all liked the last chapter, all about Liz's past:) Thankz to **Darkdestiny2000** and **Typokid** for reviewing. To **Darkdestiny2000**, I'm glad you liked Elizabeth's background, I enjoyed creating it:) Thanks for the review. To **Typokid**, Liz's brother doesn't have a dog and I can't say if he will be okay or not, it might ruin the suspense of the story:) Thanx for reviewing. I love reading all of the reviews:) Anyway, here's the next chapter. It's mainly a flashback one, but who can resist the little Mercers? Enjoy:_

**Formulating A Plan**

"I'll be back within two hours." Angel told Sofi comfortingly as he prepared to leave the house. "Angel! Don't think I have no idea what you're doing! You're getting into trouble! You and that Bobby! If you get hurt, I'll kill him!" Sofi was near hysterics. "I'll be fine Sofi, just calm down." Angel tried desperately to calm his nervous girlfriend. He stepped outside and closed the door, taking a deep breath. This was some serious shit he was going to try and get into. Some shit he promised his brothers and his mother he would never get into again. But he had to go back, for the sake of the plan he and his brothers had formulated the night before.

Last night: Jack looked in on the sleeping Liz, who sighed deeply in her sleep on the couch, Tyler lying beneath her. He looked back into the kitchen and sat down at the table with his brothers. "Angel." Bobby began, looking at him seriously. Gunner was worried; she didn't want anyone to get hurt. "I know we told you never to go back, to that stupid shit you got yourself into." Bobby began. Gunner knew all to well what Bobby was talking about.

_Flashback: Gunner watched as Evelyn raced through the hallways of the hospital, Bobby on her heels and Jerry and Jack not too far behind. They entered a hospital room to see a badly beaten Angel lying on the bed. The brother's all looked at each other, and Bobby and Jerry left the room. Gunner followed them and heard them begin their discussion. _

"_I told him not to get involved with Danny!" Jerry said, wringing his hands. Bobby punched the wall hard, "I told him he was gonna get hurt! Didn't I? But no, he wouldn't listen! I told him to get out of it, but no, he needed the money!" Bobby was furious. Gunner was still trying to piece things together. "He knew how dangerous it was." Jerry tried to lighten the burden of blame Bobby was putting on himself. "Delivering drugs ain't no sissy's job and he knew it. It was only a matter of time before some ass who couldn't afford the drugs would try to steal them off of him." Bobby thought deeply about his brothers words. "Lots of people are going to pay." Bobby said with a growl. "Now Bobby…" Jerry began, but was abruptly cut off. "No Jerry. Danny's gonna pay and so are those smart ass punks who thought they could beat up a Mercer and not have revenge pounded right trough their teeth!" Gunner knew Bobby was furious, and she began to get nervous as his angry energy filled the room and he began to pace. "How you gonna take on Danny? Not to mention the people who beat up Angel?" Jerry questioned. "Danny? He's too easy." Bobby responded, "There's only one of him, and sure, he's got some buddies who deliver for him, some guys he knows who are tough, but get him alone, and I bet he's as week as they come." "And if he decides to call on those buddies?" Jerry questioned. "Oh trust me…I'm very persuasive, He won't be calling on anyone." "The ones who beat up Angel?" Jerry asked quietly, not sure if he wanted to know the answer. "I talked to John before we left the house. He called and told me where those punks are from, names and all. There's only three, so me, you and Gunner could take 'em." Bobby was getting really pumped, and as he smashed his fist into the doorframe, he was shocked to see Jack's tiny eyes staring up at him. _

_He had heard everything. His eyes filled with tears, "Why would Angel do that?" He questioned. Bobby had no idea how to respond to his youngest brother. "Why didn't we try and stop him? Why didn't you guys tell me?" Gunner could hear the shake that was in Jack's voice. He was trying his best not to let his voice break under the eyes of his brother. "Look Jackie," Bobby began, "It's not like we didn't try to stop him…" But he trailed off. No idea what to say. Jerry went over and knelt down in front of his brother, "Cracker, we didn't tell you because we didn't want you involved with that. We didn't want you trying to protect Angel all by yourself. Bobby and I don't go to school with you guys anymore, and we didn't want you taking on anything you couldn't just because you were in the same environment as him." "That's not fair!" Jack yelled to everyone's surprise. "I have to tell you everything! I'm interrogated when I don't!" He added, giving Bobby I sideways glance. Then he added a little softer "Then you go and try to hide this from me? I thought we were supposed to look out for each other? How am I supposed to do that if I don't know anything? And I bet you were all going off to get revenge too and weren't going to mention a word to me!" His voice began to trail off at the end. The last word barely above a whisper. Jack turned to look back into Angel's room, listening to the steady beep of the machine. "He's my brother too." "Okay." Bobby said finally, "Get your coat; we've got some business to attend to." Bobby walked towards the door. "What?" Jerry asked, quickly falling in step beside Bobby. They turned back to look at Gunner and Jack. "The three of us can watch him, don't worry. He's right. The Mercer's stick together." Jerry understood Bobby's reasoning, but he still didn't want Jack involved._

"_Here." Bobby said, handing Jack a gas can. "Carry this." Jack carried the gas can proudly, happy to be with his brothers. Gunner made sure she never took her eyes off of him. They met Danny, alone, in a dark alley way a bit later. "Idiot." Bobby said, dumping gas on him, "You never take a short cut this late." Bobby and Jerry beat him up, while Gunner kept Jack occupied by letting him pat her head. She was pretty sure he didn't want to see this anyway. "You'll be sorry!" Danny said. "Oh really!" Bobby answered, with a kick in the ribs to Danny. Danny groaned. "Maybe we should just finish his ass now then?" Bobby said to Jerry. "No man, it's cool." Danny groaned from the ground. "No, it's not cool. You got our brother into some messed up shit, and I'm not happy about it." He again landed a kick into the other boy's ribs. "Is he out?" Jerry questioned the badly bruised boy. "Yeah man. Yeah. He's out. No more deliveries." Danny cried out. "Just so that you don't think you're getting the short end of any stick, I'll tell ya what." Bobby began, "We'll kick the punks' asses who beat up Angel, and say you sent us. Then we'd be 'cool'." Bobby said the 'cool' part with an icy tone for emphasis. Danny nodded in painful agreement and the brothers left. "Why we gonna say he sent us?" Jerry asked. "Then we won't get the revengeful wrath of the group those punks who beat up Angel belong to." Bobby said simply. "Also, if that Danny punk is thinking of trying anything on us, he'll be to busy trying to protect his own ass from getting shot to try any plans." Jack looked up at his brother taking it all in. "What are you staring at Jackie? Have I taught you nothing?" Bobby accused. Jack looked down and as his brothers reached down to grab guns out of their backpacks, Jack looked on in curiosity. Bobby saw his brother and pulled out a crowbar, handing it to him. Jack seemed satisfied, and the group headed toward the area where Angel's attackers were last seen._

_Gunner, Bobby and Jerry put up a pretty good fight. They took down the three guys pretty easily, but failed to notice their friend sneaking up behind them. Gunner turned in time to see the fourth guy almost on top of Jack and she barked, fearing for the youngest Mercer. Jack turned around in surprise and hit the guy hard with his crowbar. "You go girl!" Bobby said with a laugh, quickly approaching the fourth guy. Jack's attacker pushed Jack to the ground, causing Jack to scrape his hand and part of his face. Bobby pulled out his gun and Gunner quickly pulled Jack back. "You tell your friends when they come to that Danny's pretty pissed." The guy nodded in fear and watched stunned as the Mercers turned their backs and left. Jerry ruffled Jack's hair and laughed, "Maybe you did teach this kid something Bobby." Jack smiled and Gunner nudged his hand, congratulating him. He was definitely a Mercer you didn't want to mess with._

_Back at the hospital, Angel came too. After his brothers made sure he was okay, they verbally attacked him, saying how stupid he was to get messed up with those losers. Gunner even added in an angry growl here and there. But Angel could only smile at his brother's bruised faces, knowing that they had gotten his revenge. Evelyn made the boys see the nurse for their cuts and bruises, but didn't have to ask what happened. She knew. She always knew!_

_End of Flashback._

"I understand." Angel replied to Bobby's plan. Angel was to talk to Danny, who was still involved with the deliveries in his area, even his own son had gotten involved. "Tell him there are some guys trying to steal his turf." Bobby continued, when Liz's cell phone began to ring. She woke up and answered it. There was silence and she hung up, tears in her eyes. "What?" Jack questioned. "I have 'till Friday. They want the money at nine Friday night down at the abandoned warehouse on Abernathy road." "That's it!" Bobby exclaimed, his plan fully realized now. He turned to Jerry with a smile and began to lay out his plan…


	35. Getting Over The Past: Chaotic Shootout

_I hope you all are dying in suspense! Mwahaha. Here's the crazy action chapter:) It's one of my longer ones, so enjoy. (I thought I'd keep the intro short and sweet so you wouldn't have to wait much longer)_

**Getting Over The Past/ Chaotic Shootout**

"Did it work?" Bobby asked, as Angel walked back into the house. "Yeah." Angel replied. "I told him the new guys were delivering some of their drugs to one of their regulars at the warehouse Friday. He'll show. He wants to teach 'em something." Angel replied. "Good." Bobby replied, packing a gun into a bag. "Bobby," Angel began. Bobby turned to look at his brother. "Did he agree to you going with him?" Bobby asked. "Yeah, it's just…" Angel trailed off. "He thinks I'm back in, I'm not sure if I can get out without some serous bruising." "Don't worry about that right now. I took care of him before, I'll do it again." Bobby assured him. Bobby felt bad. He needed his brother with Danny's boys so he could tell Angel when the best time to enter the warehouse was, but he also knew how dangerous Danny was and didn't want Angel getting hurt. He looked up at Jerry, the driver. He had kids and a wife. He then looked to Jack. Bobby's plan was to leave Jack behind. He couldn't let his youngest brother get hurt again. He had to protect him. He then looked at Liz, who was going to pretend she had the money and show up, giving Bobby time to grab her brother and hopefully get him out of there. Gunner would stay with Liz posing as Tyler because she has more experience with this. Tyler would most likely be in the car.

"When I have Michael, you get tell Danny and his boys to get in there you hear?" He asked Angel. "You cover me and Liz as we get behind some shit. Jerry will come with the car and pick us up." Bobby's plan was to have Danny distract Michael's kidnappers long enough for them to grab Michael and get out of there. When they did grab Michael, there would most likely be gunshots, and then Danny's boys could get involved in the gun fight, hopefully taking out the kidnappers. If not, Bobby would.

"Let's go!" Bobby yelled back into the house. He stopped Jack in the family room as the others left through the door. Gunner hung back to hear them out. "Not this time Jackie." Bobby said. "What? Why not?" Jack sounded angry, but was trying to hold it back, not wanting his brother to yell at him. "It's too dangerous Jack. You could get shot." Bobby explained. "So could everyone else!" Jack responded. Bobby tried to search for more words, but Jack cut in, "I know what this is about." Jack looked down into his brothers eyes. "This is about those guys in hockey masks isn't it? You couldn't get to me and thought I was dead. I don't blame you. You saved me more times than I can remember and you rescued me that day as well. Without you, Gunner, Jerry, Angel, even Sofi, I would've died right there. You all stopped them and got to me. Called an ambulance. Now it's my turn. I need to be there. I have to look out for you guys. It's what Mercer's do remember." He looked out into the driveway at a terrified Liz. "I got to watch out for her too Bobby." His eyes pleaded with Bobby's, asking his brother to let go of the past. Bobby stood there. His mind racing. How could he risk his brother's life? But then Jack's words hit him. "I don't blame you." It's what Bobby had needed to hear. Once again, Jack was right, the Mercer's stuck together, looked out for each other. "Fine." Bobby finally said, almost a whisper, "But don't be getting shot today you little fairy!" Jack smiled his relief and headed out the door as well. Gunner looked up at Bobby and nudged his hand, trying to tell him he did the right thing.

Outside, Jerry and Angel looked questioningly at Bobby, knowing what Bobby had intended to do with Jack. Bobby just shrugged and got into Jerry's van. Angel hopped inside Bobby's car and took off to meet up with Danny. The rest of the bunch headed off towards the warehouse as Bobby handed out the guns.

Liz stood there nervously. Gunner at her side, acting braver than she was. Gunner could here the sound of a van approaching and knew that the kidnappers were there. She looked back at the barrels Jack was ducking behind and then at the door where Bobby was hiding. Everything was in place and Jerry was waiting around the corner, ready to come with the car at the first sign of gunshots. The kidnappers came through the door, but one stayed behind to hold Michael as far away from Liz as possible. "Perfect!" Thought Gunner. Right where Bobby was. "Where's the money?" Questioned one of the five men waiting in front of her. He stood pretty far off from her in case she decided to pull any funny stuff. "Is he alright?" Liz questioned, nodding towards her brother and using a shaky voice. "Quit playing games and hand over the money!" The guy said pulling a gun. Gunner growled low in her throat, preparing to defend Liz with her life. Liz had to stall until Angel and Danny's guys got there. "Not until I know he's okay!" She added rather bravely. The gunman sighed and nodded at the man holding Michael, who kicked Michael. Michael's eyes shot open and he stared wide eyed at his sister. "What are you doing? Get out of here!" He yelled panicked. Liz had tears in her eyes as she saw her brother.

Gunner heard another car pulling up and saw Bobby nod as he began to sneak up behind the guy holding Michael. It was on. Angel was here and everything was ready. Gunner started her distraction. She darted towards the kidnapper, who, shocked, fired at her, but Gunner expertly dodged it. It's not like she hadn't been shot at before. She growled angrily and as the guy began to take aim again, a shot was fired. The gunman looked up startled at the bullet that had whizzed by him. Jack quickly ducked back behind the barrels, his job to cover Liz and Bobby like Angel, but also Gunner. There was no way he was letting her get shot. The kidnapper was confused and looked back towards Michael and the guy who was supposed to be watching him. The guy had been knocked out and Michael and Bobby were practically out the door. As this happened, Danny's boys were coming in and were almost hit with the kidnapper's bullet as he shot his gun after Michael and Bobby. Danny and his guys pulled out their guns, as Gunner and Liz ran behind the barrels Jack was behind. Jack and Angel covered the retreating Bobby, Liz, gunner and Michael. The kidnappers were completely confused and off guard and ran for cover as a shootout between them and Danny's guys began. Angel ducked behind some stuff with Danny's guys and looked over at Jack, who nodded that he was okay. He looked into Liz's eyes and held her trembling hands. "It's okay! We're alright!" He said calmly, though his mind was racing.

Then a barrage of bullets hit the barrels that they were hiding behind. Jack looked between them at the angry lead kidnapper. "There's no way you're getting outta here Elizabeth!" He continued to ignore the shootout and attack them. Jack tried to return fire, but every time the kidnapper reloaded, another guy behind him would start firing at the barrels to prevent it. Angel tried to stop it, but it wasn't working, and a bullet nicked his arm. Jack looked at his brother in horror, but Angel waved him off saying he was fine. Finally, the car appeared in the doorway and crashed through it. Jerry, Bobby and Michael were in the car and quickly stopped by Angel to get him. "What the hell are you doing?" Danny asked angrily between the gunfire. "I told you not to get my brother messed up into this shit didn't I?" Bobby asked, like he had no idea Angel had come to Danny for the plan. Bullets hit the windshield, but barely made it through. Jerry laughed at Bobby's confused face. "Bullet proof." Jerry responded, "I take my getaway job very seriously!" Angel dove into the back door Michael was holding open and they began to make their way over the barrels Jack and Liz were behind. They stopped nearby, not able to get any closer due to the structure of the building. "Run!" Bobby called to them. Liz and Jack got up, but ducked back down again as a stray bullet nicked the upper part of Jack's shoulder. Gunner looked at him, fearful. "Jack!" Bobby yelled. "I'm alright; it didn't go right through me!" Jack responded. Bobby was having flashbacks to the shoot out at the Mercer home and was really worried. The Mercers had been lucky so far, with only some nicks by bullets, but it was only a matter of time before one actually hit them hard. Gunner had an idea. She crawled behind the barrels, and the kidnapper saw this. Her plan was working perfectly. He thought that she was Liz and Jack. He began shooting at her, as she crawled further and further away from Liz and Jack. Bobby and Tyler leapt out of the vehicle and pulled Jack and Liz inside the van. Bobby swore in pain as a stray bullet went into his arm. "Are you okay?" Jack asked concerned. "Whatever ya little fairy, I'm fine!" He responded. Liz hugged her brother, who quickly said, "Let's get outta here!" "No!" Everyone in the van yelled, including Tyler. Michael leaned back in surprise. "And why not?" He asked. "The dog." Liz said, "Gunner. We have to get her!" Michael was about to protest and decided he better not. "Anthony's out there." He said quietly to his sister. "He was the one shooting at you. The one shooting at Gunner." Bobby heard this and cocked his gun out the window of the car, firing off shots and nailing Anthony in the shoulder. One of Danny's guys was also able to hit him and Anthony lay motionless on the ground. "One problem solved." Bobby stated. Liz looked stunned and then buried her head into Jack's shoulder.

Gunner was still behind the barrels and was relieved her shooter had been taken out. She watched as Jerry maneuvered the van into a new position to get Gunner, the car now riddled with bullets. "Man, my insurance won't cover this!" Jerry grumbled. Gunner leapt out from behind the barrels and ran towards the van. The door opened and she jumped, heading straight for it. In mid-air she felt it. A bullet hit her right back paw. She fell into the van and Angel quickly shut the door. Gunner tried to get up, carrying her back foot off the ground. Tyler, Jack and Liz all forced her back down. As the van crashed back through its entrance, Gunner could still hear the final shots being fired as police sirens could be heard making their way toward the building. "I gotta guy at the car impound place. He'll crush this van as soon as we bring it in and get us a new one." Jerry told Bobby, as the car sped toward the car impound. Everyone in the car was silent the rest of the way, just trying to process what happened.


	36. Aftermath: Questions and Wounds

_Was that last chapter enough action for ya? My heart was just beating writing it! (Jokes) Thanks to** Darkdestiny2000** for the review. I'm glad you enjoyed the actionaand that you liked the bullet proof windows.I hadto figure out a way to protect those Mercer boys! Also, thanks to **Typokid** for thereview. Don't worry about Gunner, she's been hurt worse, but I'm glad you're concerned about her.The wounds will all be dealt with in this chapter, just wait and see. Thanks again, I always appreciate the reviews:) Well,here's the aftermath of that shootout scene. Enjoy:_

**Aftermath: Questions and Wounds**

The wounded German Shepard could only stare out the window at the rain that began to fall. The pain that throbbed in her foot consumed her mind, so she attempted to follow the trickles of water that began moving down the window and joining with each other. As her nose followed one rapidly descending droplet, she came face to face with the cracked glass, caused by bullets from only moments before. Gunner hated the aftermath of something really big that just went down. No one ever said a word. No one dared state their fears, pain, or any other emotion welling up inside of them. The silence was deafening and Gunner wasn't sure how much more she could stand. Luckily for her, Liz's brother Michael obviously didn't know about the unspoken "silence" rule _(no pun intended)_ and finally spoke up.

"Stop the car!" He demanded suddenly. "What!" Jerry asked from the front seat. "Liz, shut your brother up!" Bobby commanded the girl. Michael didn't have to worry about her though. She was still clutching Jack's arm, unsure of how to deal with what had just happened. "I'm not shutting up!" Michael continued, "Who the fuck are these people Liz? What the fuck just happened? What the fuck were you thinking? Why the fuck did we go back for the fucking dog?" Michael was ranting now. Every other word out of his mouth was, let's just say, not very nice, and finally Bobby had enough. He took off his seatbelt and entered the back of the van.

"I'm _fucking_ Bobby Mercer. We just saved your _fucking_ ass. We were thinking that you got your self into this mess, so why should we _fucking_ help. And we went back for the dog because she _fucking_ protected my brother and your sister!" Gunner broke into laughter as Bobby stressed each curse word to show Michael how stupid he was being. She was also proud of how Bobby noticed her rescue efforts. "Oh Yeah." Michael began with a little less confidence than before, "well, where the fu-, where are we going." "To ditch this van." Jerry answered, "The cops see us with a van full of bullet holes, there's gonna be some questions." Bobby was still staring at Michael coldly, not liking him from the start, but then again, he never liked anyone from the start.

Everyone watched in the pouring rain as the van was crushed at the junk yard. "Thanks man." Jerry said to a guy in an oil streaked mechanics suit. "No problem," He responded, "I owed you one for…well you know." Bobby looked questioningly at Jerry, who just winked, "I've got connections!" The man handed Jerry a new set of keys and the license plate from his old van. "Got one that looks just like it around the corner." He said, "Put that thing on and no one will be the wiser. As the group walked toward the vehicle, Liz stopped Bobby. "Thanks." She said. "No problem. It's what we Mercers do best!" Bobby tried to laugh it off. "Don't be too hard on my brother. He's just protective of me and likes to be in control." Elizabeth spoke these words, not once turning away from Bobby's eyes. She knew he understood what it was like to be an older brother.

The van drove along the road a little faster than Jerry would've liked, but Bobby insisted on driving. Even with his badly bleeding arm. "Bobby, you should go to the hospital." Jerry said, unsure how his brother would take it. Bobby just smirked, "No." Bobby wanted to drive for a reason. He knew that if Jerry was behind the wheel, they would end up at the hospital no matter what. "Jack's shot too! Not to mention Angel." Jerry began to raise his voice. He knew that Jack being shot would strike a chord with Bobby. "Good." Jerry thought. Maybe then he'd stop getting into trouble, or at least drive them to the hospital. Bobby didn't respond. "It's nothing Jerry, I'm fine." Jack said as Jerry looked over at the blood spot covering Jack's shoulder. "Yeah." Angel agreed, "If some white boy can take it, I can." Angel laughed at his own joke while playfully kicking his younger brother with his foot. Jack rolled his eyes and attempted to punch him back, but Angel was just too good and expertly dodged the attack. "Don't make me reach back there!" Jerry said. "I swear I'll turn this car around!" Bobby chimed in. Gunner barked her happiness at the playful antics the brothers were showing. Angel turned to Jack, "I'm not sure mommy can drive this car." Jack smiled and added, "Yeah, I bet she's been drinking again!" Bobby slammed on the brakes and everyone went flying. "Not so funny now is it ya little fairy?" Bobby asked, slamming onto the gas and sending everyone flying back into their seats. Everyone was in stitches of laughter. "Are you okay?" Tyler asked Gunner concerned about her foot. "Yeah." She replied, "I've been through worse." She painfully remembered back to the day the guys in the hockey masks showed up, but forcefully changed the subject of her mind to the laughter still occurring in the car. "Who's in our driveway?" Angel asked, catching a car he didn't recognize. As they pulled up in front of the house, a look of recognition came onto Bobby's face. No one had to ask Bobby about his expression though, for at that moment Kari came out of the house with a screaming Sofi not far behind.

"What were you thinking?" Sofi asked Angel, pressing hard with the bandage on his arm. "Ow!" Angel cried, "O, come on baby, it's not that bad!" Kari also was fussing over Bobby. "You have to go to the hospital!" she cried angrily. "What happened?" she asked Jerry, "and why aren't you hurt?" Jerry felt guilty about that, but explained what happened to the girls. Bobby left to check on Jack, who was getting rid of all the bloody clothes. He was bleaching them first to get rid of the blood, or at least make it untraceable. "I'm sorry." Bobby said to his brother, seeing his brother's nicked shoulder. Jack was taken by surprise. Bobby was rarely nice, never mind apologetic. He caught Bobby staring at his shoulder. "It's not your fault." He began, but Bobby cut him off, "I was right there Jack, don't tell me what happened! I told you not to come! I should have stuck by what I said! Now look at your shoulder. Damn it!" "Bobby, look at your own arm and maybe worry more about that." Jack said, annoyed that he was being babied again. "I got hurt. So what? It's not like it's your responsibility to keep me safe or anything…" Jack trailed off. He knew his brother took full accountability for anything that happened to him. Then Jack knew what to say. "Thanks." Bobby grew frustrated, why was everyone saying that to him all of a sudden? Jack continued, "Thanks not only for helping Liz, but for helping me. With everything." "Yeah, well…" Bobby began, but had no idea what to say. But he didn't have too, Jack understood him when he teased him, so he could understand Bobby without words as well. Jack looked at his arm, "Now it's my turn to watch you for a bit. Let's get you to the kitchen before you pass out from blood loss." Bobby laughed at the site of his arm, "Yeah. I'm done with this Kodak moment shit anyway little fairy."

The brothers made their way to the kitchen. Bobby nodded towards Angel's arm. "Just a scratch bro." Angel reassured his oldest brother. Then, referring to his muscles, "Ya know nothing can match up to these guns!" "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You just wait and see little brother. I'll put ya in your place." Bobby said, smacking him in the back of the head. "I really think you should go to the hospital…" Angel began. "What is it with everybody and hospitals!" Bobby yelled angrily. Kari had had enough. "Just look at your arm Bobby! It's like Niagara Falls! There's blood pouring out everywhere!" Tears formed at the corners of her eyes, but she held them back. "You think it's all about you! You don't want to go to the hospital. You'll be fine. You'll deal with this on your own. But what you don't think about is the rest of us. We're worried about you. We don't want you to pass out just because you're too tough for the hospital. We're dealing with this too!" "Alright! Alright!" Bobby said putting his hands in the air in defeat. "I'll go." He turned to his brothers, "I was getting tired of the whole bleeding thing anyway." He started for the door as the other brothers smiled, wondering how Kari was able to actually get Bobby to do something.


	37. The Hospital: Healing

_Okay guys, I got t make this intro really quick. Need to do my homeowork. Thanks to my reviewers. To **Typokid**, Angel, Bobby and Jack are shot, but they are going to the hospital, don't worry. Though you'll have to wait and see if they go to the vets:) Thanks for the review. To **Darkdestiny2000**, I'm glad you like Kari, and I did have fun writing that scene in the van. (Soccer is so much fun:)) When they were fighting in the car it reminded me of how my brother and I act inside a vehicle! I agree with you,I love Bobby as the protective older brother, but sometimes I have trouble writing it. Thanks so much for the review. Both reviews were extremely appreciated:) Anyway, thanks to everyone who reads and those who review! Here's the next chapter. Enjoy:_

**The Hospital: Healing**

"How bad is it?" Liz questioned the doctor looking at Jack's arm. "He's not going to make it." The doctor said, looking dead serious. He and Jack burst into laughter at the look on Liz's face. "I'm just kidding." The doctor said with a smile, "He should make a full recovery. I've seen worse from these Mercers! Trust me." Liz looked relieved and smiled at Jack. The doctor saw this and added as he left the room to check on Angel, "His arm is still fully capable of hugs." Jack laughed and wrapped his arms around Liz. "I'm fine." He said into her hair. He stepped back and looked into her eyes. He could see her eyes glassing over and tears starting to form in the corners. "What's wrong?" He asked concerned. Liz couldn't speak, she didn't trust her voice. She couldn't do this to him. She couldn't hurt him. She ran out the door and out of the hospital into the rain.

Jack was shocked and ran after her, waving off a confused Jerry as he left the hospital as well. Gunner had seen Liz run out of the building, and she and Tyler had chased after her. Jack finally caught up with her once she was out of breath. The rain dripped off of his hair and into his eyes as he searched Liz's for answers. Her tears mixed with the droplets of rain the clouds were sending down onto her. It was like they could feel her pain and were crying for her thought Liz. Gunner looked to Tyler in confusion, but he was equally in the dark on the situation. "Liz?" Jack said gently. "I can't." She managed to choke out. "Can't what? Liz, its okay. I'm here. You're safe." Jack was trying desperately to calm her. "That's just it. It's not safe around me. I'm going to get you hurt, it just keeps happening when I'm around…" She trailed off, unable to finish her sentence as she choked back sobs. "Liz. It's not you. Mercers just get into trouble. It's like…what we do." Jack said as Gunner tried hard not to laugh at that all too true statement. "I'm just making it worse." Liz said, trying to finish her sentences without her voice cracking, "That thing when I was lost, and now this whole shoot out incident. I'm moving home with my brother." "What?" Jack was starting to get upset. "It's for the best. If any of Anthony's guys survived that shoot out, they may look for my brother and me, and I bother Bobby anyway, and…" Jack cut in, "I don't care! If Danny's guys survived, they'll look for some answers from the Mercer's, and _everyone_ bothers Bobby. If you don't, something's wrong with you. And I don't care what's 'for the best'. What about 'for us' instead?" Gunner was amazed at how well Jack was able to speak right now. He was usually so quiet, whenever he did say something, it was important. "I don't want you to die because I'm with you." Liz sniffed. Jack looked at her red, puffy eyes, and drenched hair. "But I can't live without you…" He whispered quietly. Gunner's eyes filled with tears. How sweet… Tyler looked at her weirdly, "It's like your watching a sad chick flick or something. Where's the action? That's what this needs…OW!" Tyler rubbed his head, which Gunner had so eloquently smacked. Liz collapsed into Jack, "Okay." She said.

Gunner thought about all Liz knew. She understood how much Jack had been through. How much suffering he had gone through not only as a kid, but also with all the beatings he suffered while fighting alongside his brothers. Gunner remembered the day Jack told her everything that had happened to him before the Mercer house. Gunner and Evelyn had been the only people he had ever spoken about it too, so for him to even mention it to her was big. It showed Gunner how much Jack really cared for Liz. He didn't keep anything from her. As Jack spoke every word of the beatings he endured as a child, all the harsh words spoken to him before he knew the love of the Mercer house, all the pain he had felt, Liz hung onto every word. She never pushed him when he faltered on a word and was totally comforting and supportive. She had told him everything too, even though her past mainly consisted of parents who just yelled too much, she felt she shouldn't keep anything from him either. Gunner appreciated how much Liz cared for Jack. She loved how Liz considered Jack's feelings on everything and how she never wanted to hurt him. Gunner knew Jack would never hurt her either. Gunner thought that Evelyn would've loved Liz.

As they all made their way back to the hospital, Gunner was well aware of the pain in her foot worsening. Jack had tied a cloth around it in the van, but at the house, there was too much yelling at the house for them to remember the dog's foot.

Inside, Michael looked accusingly at Jack when he saw his sister's eyes. Liz quickly stopped him from slugging Jack and told him she was just upset about everything that had happened at the shootout. Everyone waited for Bobby, as he was the last one left to have returned. They heard yelling from down a corridor and everyone turned to look. Kari and Bobby were arguing, but not in an angry way, more of a loving way. "I told you I was fine!" Bobby said rather loudly. "Oh yeah, sure Bobby. That's why he thought you might need a blood transfusion." Kari shot back. "I bet he doesn't know what that even is." Liz laughed, trying to get on Bobby's nerves. "You just wait 'till this bandage comes off." He said warningly to Liz, his arm in a sling and bandaged up.

Tyler was concerned for Gunner. The cloth was soaked in blood and he wasn't going to wait anymore. He began barking, much to Gunner's dismay. She didn't like the vet very much. "Gunner!" Liz said, seeing the cause of Tyler's barking. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry girl!" She continued to fuss over the dog. Jack picked her up and carried Gunner to the car. She lay with her head in his lap as Bobby, one-armed and definitely dangerous behind the wheel of a car, drove them faster then ever to the veterinarians.

At the vets, everyone but Jack waited in a room while Gunner was being looked at. He had stayed by her side the entire time, gently stoking her head in worry. She licked his hand to tell her she was fine.

The others watched the news, which featured the shootout. Apparently, the survivors of it, not many, had been arrested and were going away for a long time. Angel called up one of his friends that worked in the hospital and got him to check the identity of the dead bodies brought in because they weren't allowed to be released onto the news just yet.. Danny was one of them. "So both Danny and Anthony are gone." Jerry said. "Won't the survivors be mad? Come after us?" Liz questioned, a little afraid. "They're going to jail for awhile." Bobby assured her and a worried Kari. "Also, any survivors would have no idea we planned that." Jerry added.

Gunner lay on the high table as the doctor looked at her foot. "She should be just fine." She said, finishing off the stitches. She was new, and Gunner really liked her. She even gave Gunner a biscuit. Jack laughed and ruffled Gunner's fur. "You hear that, you'll be on your foot in no time." Then he added, "We won't tell Bobby. We'll let you milk that foot for all it's worth. You take all you can get." Gunner licked his face and they both laughed. Thinking about Bobby waiting on her made Gunner smile.


	38. Surprises

_Sorry this is so late! I know it's like eleven at night, but I stayed after school to paint, had a horse back riding lesson, watched LOST, and than talked on the phone for an hour. Anyway, thanks to **Darkdestiny2000** for reviewing. I'm glad youthought the last chapter was cute and ya, sometimes Bobby is kinda weird (or smelly as you put it) :). Thanks to everyone who reads and reviews, I apprecite it. Enjoy the next chapter, I'll be able to put up the next one really early tomorrow because I have a half-day! Hooray!_

**Surprises**

"Gunner, you're so fat!" Bobby said to the dog lying on the couch. "Don't listen to him Gunner, he doesn't know what he's talking about!" Liz laughed. "Bobby, don't be so mean, us girls are sensitive." "You could stand to lose a few pounds too sweetheart." Bobby jabbed. Jack steeped out of the kitchen and chucked an oven mitt at Bobby in her defense. "Oh no. Please stop." Bobby screamed sarcastically. Elizabeth got up and sat on Bobby. "Ahh!" He screamed, "Get your fat ass off! You shoulda gone back with your brother." Elizabeth squished him even more at that comment. Her brother had returned home, but she decided to stay and be with Jack.

Gunner laughed at the two arguing, they acted like siblings. Gunner did feel larger lately. She decided she should start exercising. Tyler looked at her concerned. "What?" Gunner asked accusingly. "Nothing. I'm just worried, you don't look well…" Tyler began. "SO I'VE GAINED A FEW POUNDS! GEEZ! I THOUGHT I MEANT MORE TO YOU THAN THAT!" Gunner got off the couch and stormed off into the kitchen, leaving Tyler staring after her with an open mouth. As she did, Bobby managed to push Liz off of his lap and she hit the floor. Which started another argument.

"Couldn't take it, huh girl?" Jack asked the dog. "You said it!" Thought Gunner. She helped him with dinner, but had to stop. She was tired lately.

"Fireworks tonight!" Angel yelled excitedly. He came in with a bag full for the fourth of July. "Now Angel, this ain't gonna be like last year." Jerry warned, "Or any year before it!" Amelia and Daniella came running into the house behind their dad. "Uncle Bobby. Uncle Bobby!" Daniella and Amelia shouted dancing around the chair he was sitting on. Kari walked in. "They're adorable." She exclaimed. "Uncle Bobby got in a fight." Amelia said matter-of-factly. "No shit." Bobby muttered. Daniella held out her hand expectantly. Bobby sighed and through a quarter at the girl. Kari looked confused and Bobby just said, "Don't ask!" Jerry and Angel continued their argument into the kitchen. "Oh come on, nothing _that_ bad has ever happened with fireworks!" He tried to reason. All the brothers just stared at him. Gunner remembered what happened when they were kids.

_Flashback: "You're not placing it right!" Jerry said angrily to his older brother. "It's fine!" Bobby reassured him. "You shouldn't put it so close to the trees!" Jerry continued. "Just shut up! Jackie, stand back." Bobby said before lighting the fireworks he had tied together on the ground in the park. Gunner pushed Jack back a bit further, afraid of what was going to happen. Then, all of them began to go off, but Jerry was right, some were placed badly, not to mention to close to the trees. The boys ducked incoming fire rockets, Angel and Bobby dying of laughter, Jerry and Gunner trying to protect Jack. Then, one hit the tree and set it on fire. "Uh Oh." Bobby said. "Run!" Angel yelled and they all took off. That night, the entire area of trees in the park burned to the ground, the culprits were never caught._

_End Flashback._

"That was one time." Angel said. "And it wasn't even me!" He added, looking accusingly at Bobby. Kari looked at Bobby as well, but he just laughed, "That was pretty funny Jer!"

Then Angel caught sight of Gunner. "Holy Shit! That dog got fat!" Gunner's eyes inched closed in anger and frustration, she wasn't THAT large! "Maybe it's fungus?" Tyler laughed; remembering when he thought Gunner had fungus when they had switched places. Angel continued, "Or maybe she's got like doggie cancer or something. Maybe worms?" Gunner jumped on him and knocked him to the ground. She looked at him as if to say "Enough already!" "Okay, okay!" Liz said in Gunner's defense. "I'll walk her and take her to the vet's tomorrow just to be safe." "Great." Gunner thought. "The vet."

That night. Gunner watched the brilliant lights in the sky created by the fireworks, Daniella and Amelia by her side. "She's so good with kids." Liz commented, Tyler preferring to stay with Kari and Bobby, annoying the heck out of him. Then, Tyler came over to her, and said "Wait 'till you see the surprise Jack has for Liz!" He said with a large grin. Gunner was confused. "How do you know?" She questioned. "I overheard Jack telling everyone while Liz was walking you." He replied.

Before the last firework went off, everyone turned to Jack and Liz looked at him confused. Jack stood up in front of Liz and got down on one knee. Liz looked completely shocked as Jack asked, "Elizabeth, will you marry me?" She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Of course!" Gunner barked excitedly, her and Tyler jumping up and running around the two as Jack kissed Liz. Jerry set the last firework and it went off in the background as he slipped the ring onto her finger. Sofi and Kari were going crazy and Bobby, for once, wasn't teasing.

"Tyler was right." Gunner thought, "That was an amazing surprise!" Jack looked down at Gunner and laughed; "Now I have two number one girls." He ruffled her fur, and Gunner licked his hand. She never doubted he still loved her too.

"Where's Liz?" Jack asked the next morning, seeing she wasn't there in the morning and she had slept over. "Took Gunner to the vet." Bobby responded. "What, you two need to be in contact every minute now? Can't be left alone now can ya little fairy?" Jack sighed and chucked a rolled up sock at him, but was instantly tackled to the couch. Jack regretted the throw instantly. Bobby's arm was better and now Jack could barely defend himself again. As the boys wrestled on the floor in the kitchen, Liz walked through the door, Angel and Sofi coming down the stair at the ruckus.

Liz pulled Bobby off of Jack only to get involved in the fight as well. Gunner joined in along with Tyler, but soon Liz said, "Guys wait, don't hurt Gunner!" "What are you talking about, we always do this and she's fine." Bobby said as Jack began a game of tug-o-war with Gunner and the rolled up sock that was thrown earlier. "Did the doctor say why she's so fat?" Angel asked, just poking fun at Gunner. Gunner didn't mind anymore. She had a surprise. One even better then Jack's.

"Well," Liz began, "she is larger, but she has a valid reason. She can't help it." Everyone was confused and Tyler barked in anticipation of their faces. He was so proud! "They're gonna be a few more Mercers around this house." Elizabeth said excitedly, "She's pregnant!"

Jack dropped the sock in shock. "Gunner!" He said. "That's awesome!" Jack wrapped his arms around the dog's neck. Tyler pawed the hug. "Congratulations to you as well I guess." Jack added. "You dog you." Bobby joked to Tyler. Angel and Sofi all got on the ground too, congratulating the dogs. "We are so having a baby shower!" Elizabeth said excitedly. "You mean puppy shower." Angel corrected her with a laugh. Gunner could hardly wait, though she didn't like baths, so how much could she like a shower?


	39. The Puppy Shower

_Yeah! I'm home already! It's only 12:00pm and I'm done school! Half-days rule! Enough of my glory. I hope you guys liked the last chapter. I love puppies, they're so cute and fuzzy:) Anyway, I've decided to go up to chapter 41 with this story, the last chapter being an epilogue. Yes, sadly this story is almost done, but I had to end it somewhere. Tomorrow I'm going to post really late because I'm going to see Harry Potter immediately after school, but don't worry, it'll still be here. If I do post it late, I may wait a day or twoto post the epilogue, just so everyone gets caught up. Thnaks so much to everyone who reads this story. Enjoy the next chapter (FULL OF PUPPIES!):_

**The Puppy Shower**

"Jack, what do you think?" Liz asked as she hung up a sign in the family room. "Awesome." He said. "You weren't even looking!" She accused. "Of course he wasn't, he's to busy being a suck to that puppy!" Bobby answered from the kitchen. It was true. Jack cradled a tiny puppy in his hand, being extremely gentle as not to hurt the tiny creature. It squirmed in Jack's light grasp. The puppies were just beginning to walk and play and loved exploring. Gunner lay in the middle of the room, nuzzling her three other puppies. She had given birth to two boys and two girls. Tyler was also excited and happy. He watched carefully as one began to wander away from the others, towards the kitchen. "What do I do?" He said panicked. Gunner laughed, they were both new at this, but sometimes Tyler was just too much. "Just bring him back!" She said with a laugh. Tyler gently pushed the puppy with his nose, but the puppy only laughed as if to say "are you kidding me?" and he kept moving. Bobby came out and picked up the puppy. "Let's just hope they don't have Gunner's sense of direction or we'll never find 'em once they start exploring." He said poking fun at the new mother. He placed the puppy down softly next to Gunner. She wasn't one of those dogs who wouldn't let people get near her puppies. She enjoyed it. They were all great help in babysitting. Even though Tyler was kind of nervous about letting Bobby hold them, Gunner knew they were safe with him. She could tell he was really gentle towards the babies, especially when a puppy was in his hand.

"SO CUTE!" Elizabeth exclaimed as she picked up one of Gunner's daughters. The puppy squirmed and bit Liz right on the nose. "Ow!" Liz exclaimed. "Nice one!" Bobby joked. "You planned that!" Liz accused. "Yes. Mwahaha!" Bobby said sarcastically, "my plan to create a fleet of blood-thirsty hounds is all coming into place. Sick 'em!" "Oh yes." Jack began, "You're definitely doing a wonderful job. Just look how he can't wait to leap at my jugular." Jack smirked as Bobby's eyes met the puppy in Jack's hand, which was sound asleep, cuddling into his side. "Work in progress." Bobby responded. "I don't think so!" Gunner barked. "He's kidding Gunner." Kari said, walking through the door. Liz jumped up, the puppy still in her arms. "Puppies!" Kari said sounding excited. "Puppies." Bobby said in a girly mocking voice. "Your worse then Jackie!" He added. Liz gently put the puppy into Kari's arms before tackling Kari's boyfriend. "That's no way to speak to your girlfriend!" She laughed as Bobby got her in a headlock. Kari just laughed. She turned to Gunner, "Wait until you see what I got the puppies!" She whispered excitedly. Gunner was excited. Today was the day of the puppy shower and everyone was coming. A big sign hung over the entrance to the family room that Liz had made reading "They're Here!" and there were balloons everywhere.

Sofi and Angel came down the stairs, Sofi's belly bulging outwards. She was pregnant and had announced it shortly after Gunner's pregnancy had been told. "Wow, you're fat." Bobby said. All three girls and Gunner turned to Bobby in shock. Kari, Liz and Gunner decided to put Bobby in his place and tackled him. "Alright! Alright!" Bobby said under the heap of people, "No fat jokes. I got it. Geez you women are sensitive." When he was finally let up, Gunner hit him one more time for effect. "At least you've slimmed down." Bobby added as Tyler hit him for Gunner. "Looks like you got a runway." Angel said, picking up the puppy who had been trying to escape before. "Don't drop it!" Sofi said in concern. "It's okay baby." He replied, "Here you try." Sofi cuddled the little squirming ball of fur, excited for her own soon-to-arrive bundle of joy.

Just then, Jerry, Camille and the girls came in through the door. "Babies!" Amelia squealed. "Gentle!" Jerry called after her. The little girl knelt down beside her Uncle Jack to watch the sleeping puppy. "Want to hold him?" He asked the little girl. Amelia's eyes shone and she nodded. Jack gently placed the puppy in the girl's cupped arms and the puppy didn't once stir. Liz was watching and smiled to herself at the Uncle and niece. Daniella was playing with Tyler, throwing a tennis ball for him to catch. "No catch in the house!" Camille called. "It's alright. I do it all the time." Angel said, greeting Jerry and his wife. Camille knelt down on the ground with the other women and the puppies. They all congratulated Gunner and oohed and awed at the puppies. Gunner and Tyler were very proud parents all day.

The time came for presents. Kari, Liz, Camille, and Sofi had gotten each puppy an outfit. They quickly dressed the two girls, one in a pink dress and the other in a blue shirt with a tiara. The boys also got clothes, one in a baggy puppy sweatshirt and the other in a leather jacket with a mini-guitar (Liz's choice). "It's a puppy version of Jack!" Bobby laughed as the girls took pictures. The puppies also got a brand new blanket and lots of toys, which Amelia and Daniella immediately opened to play with.

While the girls kept the puppies amused, Gunner sat with Jack on the couch. She was tried and enjoyed her down time. Liz laughed and looked to Gunner. "Looks like you have five puppies to deal with." Gunner looked over to see Tyler playing with the girls among the puppies and shook her head trying hard not to laugh herself. Jack scratched her behind the ears. "You're a great mom." He said with a smile. Gunner appreciated that. She had learned from the best: Evelyn. Gunner jumped down from the couch to play with the puppies, as did Elizabeth and Jack. Jack was playfully fighting with one, poking the puppy which went after his finger. "You're great with kids." Liz said. "It's just a puppy." Jack laughed. "I saw you with Amelia before." Liz responded. She looked down unsure how to begin. Gunner stopped what she was doing and looked up. "Tell him!" She barked. Gunner knew exactly what was on Liz's mind. Jack turned to Liz concerned, ignoring the puppy gnawing on his toe. "What? Are you okay?" "Jack," Liz began, "We're having a puppy." Jack looked confused for a second and then his eyes widened in realization. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" He said in shock. "Well?" Liz asked, unsure how he had taken it. He grabbed her into a hug. "It's awesome!" Jack exclaimed, unable to contain his excitement. Jack and Liz talked in their own little world for a few more moments before they realized everyone else was staring at them having heard their whole conversation. They hadn't realized the talking had stopped when Liz had said she was having a puppy. "More babies?" Asked a confused Amelia. "Yeah sweetheart." Jerry told his daughter. "Can we play with the baby?" Amelia asked her Uncle Jack. "Oh course you can." Jack said with a laugh, pulling the little girl into a hug, which quickly turned into a tickle fight. Everyone was congratulating the couple. "Way to go." Bobby said, which was the most sincere he was going to get and the two appreciated it. Gunner was happy as well and jumped up to get Jack's attention. Jack knelt down and ruffled her fur. "Did ya hear that?" He asked excitedly, "I'm gonna be a dad!" Gunner barked her approval and enthusiasm, knowing already that Jack would be an amazing dad. "Guess we're gonna need another baby shower." Camille laughed, as everyone else enjoyed the rest of the evening.


	40. Until We Meet Again

_Oh my Gosh! I got sooo many reviews! Where do I start? To **Typokid**, I'm glad you love puppies too:) The names of the puppies and the kids will be given in the epilogue, and one puppy name in this chapter. (The epilogue will have LOTS of names, so I hope everyone will be able to follow it!) I'm so glad that you always review:) To **Darkdestiny2000**, I'm not sure if I'm going to have a sequel, not sure of how much time I'm going to have during the next couple of months-it's getting hectic, but I'm glad you like my story that much:) As mentioned to Typokid, in the epilogue, their will be lots of info on the families! Thanks so much for the review. To **ZoeinGreece**, I love that you review each chapter! It makes me so happy:) I'm glad you appreciated the effort Tyler took for Gunner with digging the heart into the tree and that you liked Liz's secrets.You scared me for a minute when you fainted after Jack told Liz he couldn't live without her!I almost had a heart attack, but I've recovered. (jokes) I really like the "I'm having a puppy" line as well. I've had that idea FOREVER and couldn't wait to use it. Your reviews always cheer me up or make me happyand I'm glad my story can puta smile on your face too!**To everyone:** I'm really sorry I'm ending the story, but all good things must come to an end. I really like posting everyday, but homework is taking up more time as we near the end of the semester and I know that if I stop posting everyday and slow down, I eventually might stop altogether and not finish it. I've been reading some of the stories on this site, and some people haven't posted for a really long time and have left me hanging and it tears me apart! I'd rather leave you guys with some closer and a chance of a sequel (even if it only is a few chapters) then leave everyone dying for an ending. I hope you guys understand, and I've appreciated every hit on my counter and every review in my mailbox. It just makes my day to come home and read what you guys think, and I'll really miss that. I'm not leaving the site and I'll still be reading all the Four Brothers stories. So for the second last time, I thank everyone for reading and reviewing. Sorry for the intense intro, and heres the next chapter. ENJOY:_

**Until We Meet Again**

Gunner had grown old. Her joints and movements stiff, her sight fading. She looked around the familiar house. The Mercer house, which all the brothers decided Jack could have. Gunner had adored her life with the Mercer's and though she could barely see the shapes that made up the interior, she knew it like the back of her paw. She remembered every event that took place, every item in the house which held some sort of meaning in her life. She walked through each room, recalling memories of long ago and some more recent. She remembered all the emotions that existed in this house, from the purest joy, to the saddest pain. Every thought, precious to her. She walked up the stairs, taking her time.

She looked into Angel's old room, occupied by Jack's daughter, now five. She remembered the first time Jack held his daughter. From the look in his eyes, Gunner just knew he would be a great dad. Always taking care of her. Protecting her. The girl had her father's artistic talent. She loved music, but loved drawing even more. Gunner knew she would grow up to be successful. The girl lay, with her cat under her chin (yes, a cat, it wasn't as bad as Gunner thought it would be. The cat loved the little girl and all it needed was a good chase now and then to keep it in line.)

Gunner than walked by Jack's old room, given to Jack's son. Younger than the daughter, the four-year old boy had his dad's hair. It hung in front of his face as he slept peacefully on his bed. He always made his dad so proud! The grin on his face the first time he brought his dad home an A+ was priceless, as Jack swung his son around in circles all around the kitchen as a reward for his triumphant victory. Kari had laughed, though you could tell she was a little nervous about the spinning, always worried about the kids getting hurt (especially during wrestling matches set up by Uncle Bobby). The little boy loved hockey and Jack took him out whenever he could, making sure Bobby wasn't too rough with him if the Uncle decided to come along.

Bobby was actually engaged! To none other than Kari. (She was the one who actually asked him!) Gunner couldn't believe it, Bobby finally settling down. She figured she couldn't be too surprised, since the two ended up having a son together, (he was about four and a half now), with another on the way. She trusted that Bobby would take care of Kari and his kids. Gunner was worried he might be overprotective, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing so she let it go.

Angel and Sofi had gotten married and had a little boy, who had a way with the ladies just like his dad, which was scary since he wasn't even seven! Camille and Jerry were successfully raising their daughters to stay out of trouble. Daniella was problematic with boys, but Amelia was a daddy's girl.

Gunner than dropped her eyes to the puppy Jack's son clutched in between his tiny arms. Gunner's son, Tyner, was nestled into the boy, protecting him from any evils that may dare enter his room. Tyner adored Jack's son and they were always together. She remembered the first day Jack's little boy was learning to crawl. Tyner had followed the little boy, carefully protecting him from the dangers of low tables and obstacles in his path. When he started to walk, he would use Tyner as leverage to stand up. Tyner never once snapped at the pain of his fur being pulled at by those little fingers. He tolerated it because he loved the little boy. Gunner could not have been more proud. From the moment Jack's son was able to finally move around on his own and didn't need to be watched constantly, he and Tyner were inseparable, always causing mischief. Like the day they got into the flour and were doused in white powder. Kari was horrified at the mess, but Jack and Gunner could only laugh, not able to stay mad at those cute little faces for long. Through all the trouble the two got into, not once did Tyner ever put the boy in danger or let him get hurt. He was the child's guardian, just like Gunner had watched over the Mercers.

Gunner's other three puppies had been sent to each of the brothers. Her other son to Angel and her two daughters to Bobby and Jerry. Tyler had been so concerned when the puppies had left, but Gunner had reassured him it would be okay, and that the brothers would definitely take good care of the youngsters. Tyler had been an amazing father. Always ready to play with the puppies and never saying "no" when they needed to talk to them. He also was never good at staying mad at their cute little faces. She relished in the memories of the times that all the Mercers spent together. Her favourites were holidays, or when everyone would be in the park playing catch with tennis balls. The kids adored the dogs and the Mercer brothers enjoyed wrestling with the dogs to retrieve the balls. Tyler always let the puppies get it, never once stealing the ball off them. The puppies did love to watch their dad show off, catching the ball in mid-air. Tyler had passed away just over a year ago. Gunner still missed him to this day, just as she missed Evelyn.

Gunner made her way into Evelyn's old room, now occupied by Jack and his wife, Elizabeth. She used all her strength to leap onto the bed and then crawled over to Jack to give him a big wet kiss. "I love you too girl." He murmured, still half asleep. She slowly made her way to the foot of the bed. The foot of Jack's bed, Evelyn's bed, where Gunner had slept all her life. She slowly lay down and began to shut her eyes. She knew the children and Jack were safe, Tyner would look after them. She knew the other brothers would be fine as well; they would always have a piece of Gunner with them in her puppies. She took a final look at Jack. She loved him more than she believed a heart could ever allow. She had protected him since the first day and would still always watch over him for the rest of his life. He had grown up to have a family, to be a rock star, and to never have his brothers leave Detroit again. He was happy, away from loneliness and pain, away from fear and danger. She wished she could thank him, for everything he'd done for her. For all the love he'd shown her, for all the freedom and affection he had shown the world had to offer her. She wanted to thank all the brothers, for a life, for a home, for a family. For her memories that would last beyond a lifetime, that no amount of time away from them could break. She wondered what she had done to deserve the brothers and the years she was given with them. And as she fell asleep for the last time she whispered "Until we meet again." She was greeted by her dear Evelyn and Tyler, who she would have to spend time with until that day came. For now, she would watch them from above, a little guardian angel in the sky, with a heart full of bonds that could never be broken and love that would last for all eternity.

**There will be an epilogue! But it will be from Tyner's point of view:)**


	41. Epilogue: Living Life

_Well, here it is, my last chapter. Hold on...I'm tearing up. Thanks to my reviewers of the last chapter. To **Darkdestiny2000,**thank you so much liking Gunner and saying I wrote her well. I REALLY appreciate it! Thanks a millionfor reviewing al the time, I always love to read them:) To **Typokid**, thank you for the compliment on my story being great, it made me so happy! I always can't wait to hear what you have to say! To **Aaliyah Hunter**, thank you so much for saying that the last chapter was beautifully written, and I'm sorry it was so sad. It made my day when you said my story was terrific and I'm glad you appreciated me updating everyday. Thanks so much for the review! _

_This first part of this epilogue is just a description of each family, their kids, a description of the puppy left with them, I'll write more when this description is over._

**Epilogue – Living Life**

**Here are basically the families and names of the kids. I also added a description to the kids and Gunner's puppies: (Sorry if it's a little long)**

**Jack's Family:**

**Wife: Elizabeth**

**Kids: Girl: Kai-Anne (now 16)**

**Boy: Sean (now 15)**

**Boy: Kyle (now 12)**

**Girl: Kelsey (now 10)**

**Dog: Tyner (Boy) (Gunner's son)**

**Cat: Snowflake (Girl)**

**Hamster: Zoe and Pudgey (Girls)**

**Fun Facts: **

**Jack still plays his guitar, signed with a label and is now a rock star.**

**Elizabeth finally got a job where she always dreamed: Child Service and is now placing children in foster homes and adoptive homes where they can start a new life.**

**Kai-Anne is planning to become an artist and is working up the money to go to school for it. She totally looks like her mother. She still has her cat and has a way with boys which can get her into trouble. Jack almost had a heart attack the first day she brought a boy home, but is gradually learning to accept it… and now calmly calls Bobby for help with the interrogating.**

**Sean is as active as can be and loves sports, especially hockey. He still sports his dad's hairstyle and is quieter like him too. He and Tyner are still inseparable and he is followed around constantly by his younger brother Kyle and younger sister Kelsey. He watches out for them and makes sure nobody messes with them. The first day someone did, they went home with a black eye. This has gotten Sean into some trouble though, and once he even broke his arm. Jack's comfort is that Tyner's always there to protect them and when Sean is really in trouble, he knows he can talk to his dad.**

**Kyle thinks the world of his older brother and is learning to play the guitar like his dad. He wants to be a rock star too. His hair is less styled than his older brother's, but the colour is a mixture between his both his parents. His dad bought him a hamster for his twelfth birthday, which he named Zoe. Kyle adores her and constantly has her with him at all times. It's something he can take care of. He follows his brother and cousins into trouble, getting into his fair share of fights.**

**Kelsey is the baby of the family and no one will let it go. She has her mom's dark brown hair, which she streaks with blond, just like her mom as well. She enjoys time with her mom and dad, both the youngest in their families as well. She and her mom love to put on fashion shows for the rest of the house and she also has a hamster like her brother named Pudgey. She loves animals, and wants to work at an animal shelter when she's older. She knows for sure she's going to own a pony as well. Like any Mercer, she's a trouble maker, and unlike her sister, despises guys and can kick their butts!**

**Everyone knows Tyner, the spunky puppy who loves the kids to death and is inseparable with Sean. Though he is the most playful and mischievous of all his brothers, he is still protective of all the Mercers. He is the youngest of his siblings.**

**Bobby's Family: **

**Wife: Kari**

**Kids: Boy: Scott (now 15 and ½)**

**Girl: Ellie (now11 and ½)**

**Boy: Matt (now 9)**

**Dog: Bailey (Girl) (Gunner's Daughter)**

**Fun Facts:**

**Bobby's working in construction, teaches his kids to be tough, and is still getting kicked out of hockey games, but mostly for yelling at the ref's at his sons' games.**

**Kari was a stay-at-home mom, but now she works with Camille at a shopping mall in woman's wear. (They love trying on clothes on their breaks)**

**Scott has his dad's brown hair and tough eyes. Scott is strong like his dad and even though he is only six months older than Sean, he acts like his the older brother. He gets into trouble with all of his cousins and he and Sean make a formidable team when it comes to fighting or interrogation. Scott and Sean play hockey together, but the difference is that Scott gets kicked out of games, just like his dad. Scott can check harder then anyone, and Sean knows to stay clear of it. Bobby is tough on his son, but is always there for him, to stick up for him against teachers and police of any kind! Not only does Scott look out for his cousin's, but his siblings as well, especially his youngest brother Matt, who he loves to tease to no end!**

**Ellie, named after Evelyn, is totally a kick-your-butt girl. She has blue eyes like her mother, and always wears her straight black hair down around her shoulders, unless she's playing a sport or beating up someone. She is a year and a half older then Kelsey, and taught her all the moves she knows. She knows how to flirt, but loves playing hard-to-get. Bobby goes easier on her because she's a girl and she takes complete advantage of it! Getting exactly what she wants, when she wants. Like her mother, she can get her father to do anything…except allow her to date. (Why do Bobby and Jack make such a good interrogation team?)**

**Matt's the youngest and, like poor Kyle, gets made fun of by his siblings. He, like Ellie, inherited their mother's black hair, but he got their father's eyes. He is the youngest out of all the Mercers, along with Angel's daughter Tanisha, but since he's a boy, he gets picked on way more. Luckily, his dad's tough and it's passed on to him. He's able to fight back and sometimes can take them when it's one on one. He enjoys playing soccer and has had to learn that checking is less tolerable in soccer than in hockey. His dad gets kicked out in these games as well. He is extremely protective of Tanisha, and has gotten into tons of fights defending her.**

**Bailey is the family's dog. More laid back than her youngest brother, she's continent to sleep at the foot of Scott's bed then try and tackle him in a game. Though when she needs to be, she's the toughest at wrestling, not to mention the oldest.**

**Angel's Family:**

**Wife: Sofi**

**Kids: Boy: Luke (now 17)**

**Girl: Tanisha (9)**

**Dog: Klondike (Boy) (Gunner's son)**

**Bunny: NumNum (Boy)**

**Fun Facts:**

**Angel still works at a liquor store, but stopped visiting the ladies gym next door. He's really good to his kids and though he encourages Luke to date, he denies Tanisha any male contact, for he knows what they are like.**

**Sofi is still as crazy as ever and works at a restaurant. She and Bobby still get into their fair share of fights.**

**Luke is the oldest guy of the Mercer kids and totally takes control of his older brother status using it for both protecting and annoying. The only guys who might be able to take him are Sean or Scott. Occasionally Ellie and Kelsey take a shot, but they've learned it doesn't work. He's totally in charge of the pack and though Sean and Scott do a well enough job of getting into trouble themselves, Luke is the one who can lead them all into trouble at once. He can totally make any girl fall for him and has a different girlfriend each month. He is interested in football, where tackling is totally legal…hahaha. Angel can occasionally get kicked out of his sons football games for comments like 'hit him harder'. He, like most of the older siblings in each family, is protective of his much younger sister Tanisha. And like his father, won't let her see any guys.**

**Tanisha is the baby of the group and, unlike poor Matt, even though she is teased a bit, they mostly baby her. She has her mother's dark black curly hair and her father's giant grin. She likes school (maybe the only one) and has a bunny named NumNum. She isn't that great at defending herself, but is learning and in the meantime, Matt pretty much takes care of her.**

**Klondike is the puppy given to Angel. Even though he's the second youngest, he grew up to be a large dog and knows how to push his weight around. He loves wrestling with Luke, but lets him win. He is protective of Tanisha and enjoys his siblings company.**

**Jerry's Family:**

**Wife: Camille**

**Kids: Girl: Daniella (now 22)**

**Girl: Amelia (now 20)**

**Girl: Sarah (now 15) (yes, they had another kid)**

**Dog: Ariel (Gunner's daughter)**

**Jasmine (their white puppy)**

**Fish: Cujo (fighting fish)**

**Fun Facts:**

**Jerry started building his dream awhile ago and is now in charge of his own business. This money helps his kids through school.**

**Camille works at a clothing store with Kari.**

**Daniella is in school, studying to become a psychologist. She is the oldest child of the Mercer brothers and knows it. She says what she wants when she wants, but when has she not? She pushes her younger siblings around, but in the end, she's always there for them.**

**Amelia is studying to be a teacher and is engaged. She promised her dad she wouldn't get married until she's sown school. She is still his little girl to him. She also enjoys music. While in high school she learned how to play the clarinet. She still gets into trouble with the Mercer kids, but is usually sensible like her father.**

**Sarah is like her sisters, a girly girl. Though she gets into her fair share of trouble, not once has she beaten up a guy who asked her on a date…unlike her cousin Kelsey who punches any guy who looks at her. She enjoys gymnastics like both her sisters did, but she has stuck with it longer then they have. She also enjoys dance.**

**Ariel is the dog given to Jerry's family. She is super hyper and loves to run and run and run… Amelia named her Ariel after her favourite movie "The Little Mermaid." She's the second oldest, but unlike Bailey, she lets Klondike push her around. She's just happy to have someone to play with and loves to walk Sarah to school.**

_Wow! That was really long! I'm sorry if it got confusing with all the characters, but with four families, the characters do start to add up. Well, here's my final little story. It's pretty much just them at the ice rink…where else to end it then with a good old game of hockey? There isn't really a plot. It just shows them all having fun, being together and you hear the puppies talk about their mom. I just wanted to end on a note of normality and calm. Showing life would be as peaceful as possible from now on. I want to thank everyone one last time for reading so faithfully. I really enjoyed writing this story (It's a total of 89 pages!) Thanks to every person who reviewed,**ZoeinGreece, Darkdestiny2000, Typokid, BadKarma05, Aaliyah Hunter, Elven-Princess Ginny, Jack's Girl, and my first reviewer ever, sparkl0143.** I appreciated every single one and you all made this worth while.For the last time…ENJOY:_

Tyner excitedly raced from the car, Sean close behind, carrying his hockey equipment. The two were tackled by Klondike and Luke. "Come on! We're not even on the ice yet!" Sean complained, pushing Luke off. "Yeah. I'm totally with him!" Tyner added to Klondike, unable to push the huge dog off of him. "Get off." Their oldest sister, Bailey, sighed to Klondike, helping Tyner get free. "You ready to have your butt kicked?" Klondike asked his older sister. "Like to see you try." She said not amused.

"Aw…Sean's upset." Taunted Scott as he approached the two boys in the snow. "I just want a fair fight, that's all!" Sean defended. "Fair? When has anything ever been fair in this world?" Came Scott's younger brother Matt from behind. "Lot's of things are fair." Kelsey, Sean's younger sister, said as she walked over with her mother. "She's right, now all of you get off the ground. The lord knows you'll be sitting on it enough out there on the ice!" Liz said, looking back to see Kai-Anne listening to her walk-man and Jack giving Kyle a ride on his back over to where she stood. "Where's your sister?" Matt asked Luke. "Oh, so you don't care about Scott's little sister right?" asked Ellie, punching Matt in the arm. "Of course not! You're _my_ sister too, why would I care?" He replied, receiving another punch. "She's with my dad." Luke answered. Everyone turned in time to see Tanisha walking over with Angel and Bobby. When she saw Matt, she broke away and ran over to say "hi".

Tyner turned to his brother and sister, "Where's Ariel?" He asked. "What? Did I get here before you or something? How should I know?" Was Baileys reply. Tyner turned to Klondike. "Took the words right out of my mouth." Was all his older brother said. Obviously, the Mercer brothers had the same question and helped their kids with the skates as they waited.

"That one's too tight dad." Kelsey said pointing to her left foot. Jack began to retie it while asking Bobby, "Why hasn't Jerry come? He knows we play hockey on Thanksgiving." "He'll be here Jack, don't worry." Bobby said, watching his youngest try to tie his own skates. Matt was very frustrated. Bobby let him struggle a bit more and finally decided to help before the knot he was forming became even worse. Tyner barked at the ice as Scott and Sean sped around the rink. Scott checked Sean and he smashed into the boards. Jack looked up at this and called his son over, whispering something to him. "Dad?" Kelsey began. "One second sweety." He replied, watching Sean sneak up behind Scott, hook his legs with the stick and send him flying. Sean victoriously skated back over and smiled at his dad. "So that was your doing huh? Wait 'till we get out there." Bobby said threateningly to Jack. "Daddy?" Kelsey said again. "Yeah." He said turning around, but just then Jerry came in and grabbed Jack around the neck, "Hey little brother." He said with a laugh. "What are you talking about, he's taller than you dad." Sarah laughed, always defending her uncle. Daniella and Amelia walked in as well. "You made it!" Ellie exclaimed happily. "We need more girl power around here!" "We wouldn't miss it!" Amelia exclaimed hugging Ellie. Daniella let Ariel off the leash and the dog went to visit her siblings. "What's new?" She asked. "So far, Sean and Scott each have one point." Tyner responded. The dogs always kept score of the checks and hits and would bet on the winner for fun while the Mercer's skated. "Darn, I missed that much already?" She asked. "How did Scott get that black eye?" she asked. "Oh that's right, you missed Tuesday." Tyner said remembering with a laugh. "Sarah had dance, now what about Tuesday?" asked Ariel impatiently. Tyner laughed remembering the story, "The whole Mercer gang went to get some kids for bugging Ellie and Kelsey." "No! Go on!" Ariel said enthralled. "Well, there were more kids than expected, but the Mercers aren't low in number either, so an all-out brawl kinda started." Tyner remembered the fight so clearly. He had been scared for them at the time, but looking back on it, it was pretty funny. "Did you guys fight? What did their parents think?" Ariel pressed for information. "Of course we fought!" Klondike said toughly, falling over as Bailey tripped him, not one to put up with his nonsense. Then Tyner began, "Well, all I know is that Jack was really worried about Sean, Kai-Anne, Kelsey and Kyle when they came home because they were covered in scratches and bruises. Even though Liz was pretty hard on them, Jack understood and just made sure they were okay, especially Kelsey since she was the one getting picked on." "Bobby was hilarious." Bailey said. "He saw Scott's black eye and all he said was 'did you win?'" The other dogs believed it. Bobby worried about his kids as much as Jerry, Angel or Jack, but he knew how to deal with them. The best way to ask Scott about the fight, given he had a personality like Bobby's, was to ask if he won. Then Bobby would get the details. "Luke totally hid it. Only Tanisha knows" Was all Klondike said, getting back to the game as Ellie checked into Kyle.

"Dad!" Came a now frustrated voice from Kelsey. "I'm so sorry, Kels, what is it?" Jack asked. "Now the right one's too tight." She said simply, causing all the dogs to laugh.

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The dogs watched the chaos ensue as the Mercers all got out on the ice, Kari, Liz, Sofi and Camille, all preferring to stay on the sidelines. The dogs' head's went back and forth as they watched one tackle after another. "Dad!" Matt complained to his dad. "What is it?" He asked, quickly checking Jack as he skated by. "Everyone's after me, I don't want to play anymore." Matt whined. It was true. They all liked to pick on the youngest. While Jack attempted to tackle Bobby, Bobby replied, "Just take 'em out one at a time, you'll be fine." Bobby and Jack both fell to the ground. "Dad!" Scott and Sean yelled together. "Focus on the game!" Bobby helped Matt take out a few peopleand it worked. Theystarted checking eachother instead of just Mattand the game continued. The teams were eight and eight, but the people on each team kept switching as everyone kept changing who they wanted to check. It was more of a fighting fest than a hockey game at this point.

Tyner sat there, wondering what mom would think. The games had gotten much worse since she had watched them. "She's still watching them." Bailey said, reading his mind. "Did you guys go to the graves today?" Klondike asked. "Yeah, all three." Tyner responded. "Darn, I only made it to Evelyn's." Ariel said. "We were late enough for the game." Gunner and Tyler had been buried together under their special tree, where their kids often visited. The kids all missed their parents, but found comfort in their families, which had been so good to her. Tyner missed having his mother around all the time because she had lived with him for his entire life. Tyner remembered fighting back his tears when he learned his mother died, so that he could comfort Sean and let him know it was okay. Jack stayed strong too, for his kids. But when he was alone, the tears finally fell. Tyner went in to cry with him. Jack had lost his life-long friend. Who had watched over him, taken care of him, and who he loved dearly. Tyner, through his tears, comforted Jack and through this, they became closer. The other brother's cried too, even Bobby, who would miss the early mornings they used to share together when he lived in the Mercer house. Though none of the Mercer kids ever saw a single tear, they knew they had been shed. They knew how much their parents loved Gunner. How quietly their parents stood at her and Tyler's graves remembering, just the same way their parents stood at their mothers, grandma Evelyn's, grave. Tyner had learned something, through all the tears and all the pain. There will be days when you miss them, and the there will be days when you miss them a lot. But, as Tyner watched the families on the ice, watched all the cousins, siblings, parents, and dogs just having a good time together, the love emitting from them bonded together, not by blood in any means, but by choice, she realized that love got you through it all. Love created the happy memories that would make the sad ones less important. Though the lost people would never be forgotten, there were still many memories to be made. Love would get you through it. Love made life worth living.


End file.
